


Every Other Freckle

by orphan_account



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Developing Friendships, GTA AU, How Do I Tag, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Torture, Light Angst, Minor Violence, Multi, Tags May Change, Updated on Sundays, Work In Progress, i guess, it's all about finding your family, some of the chapters are interlaced/happening the same time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-08-10 05:17:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7831900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rvb GTA AU. The reds and blues live in separate blocks in Sandy Shores, running an illegal car scheme. What happens when Tex's old friend needs urgently a place to stay at, and what is after him? Is Washington able to share his past with the rest of them, and is he capable of putting the past behind him. More importantly; is his past willing to let him go?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Blues

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to another story of mine. This one has been half-finished in my drafts for over an year but I recently found it and polished the earlier chapters and decided to share it with you. If you're reading my stories for the first time; I'm not a native speaker so there's probably some errors. I apologize for them in advance. Also I'm a creature that thrives on positive feedback so feel free to leave a comment or kudos.

Tucker woke up to the loud barking coming from the trailer on the other side of the metal fence dividing his yard from Cabooses. He groaned loudly as the headache from the drinking caught up with him as he shielded his eyes from the bright sunlight shining through the window above his messy bed, the sun bleached curtain in front of it doing jack shit to block the rays.

“Caboose! Shut that goddamn dog up!” he heard the screech come from the trailer opposite Cabooses. Apparently Church was awake as well, shouts echoing around the block where the blues lived sure to soon wake up Sister. As soon as he had thought that the shrill shrieking was heard from the trailer furthest away from him. Tucker groaned as he grabbed his pillow and buried his head into it wishing he was anywhere else than here.

This block of trailers on the north-east side of Sandy Shores just by the beach was seldom quiet. If Church wasn’t yelling and screaming at god knows what Caboose would be hopping around with his Rottweiler in tow. Freckles would bark at strangers and also at Tucker for some odd reason. He never got along with the dog and the feeling seemed to be mutual. Freckles loved Caboose though as well as Sheila and Sister which she was so keen on reminding him of.

Tucker rolled out of the bed grabbing onto the open closet door as the world spun around him. The bedroom area of the trailer was crammed with clothes on the floor and on the unmade bed. He leaned down and picked up a beige pair of shorts and a light grey top.

He got dressed and tied his dreads into a ponytail as he made his way to the kitchen area of the trailer-house hybrid. The sink was filled with dishes and the counters needed to be wiped but other than that the house was clean. The living area was messy but Tucker didn’t consider that to be dirty. He did clean regularly but he wasn’t a clean freak like Simmons was. He took a bottle of water from the fridge and rooted around the cabinet above the sink to find painkillers.

“Fuck me!” he swore as he slammed the door close after finding nothing but empty packaging wincing as the sound echoed in his skull. Slipping on his trainers he left the trailer tucking a fully loaded pistol into the back of his shorts.

Sunglasses was a necessity here as the sun glared down with a vengeance on this run down city. The earth around his feet was cracked from the heat and lack of water and his footsteps disturbed the delicate sand coloring his trainers with every step.

Tucker made his way to the fence wincing at the loud barking coming from the neighboring yard. Caboose was sitting on the stairs to his trailer talking to his dog as the Rottweiler wagged his tail, paying close attention on the tall man. Caboose was huge, but not in a bodybuilder way. He looked young, his features were soft under that unruly mess of hair. He was stronger than anybody Tucker knew and about 6’3 but he wasn’t quite right in the head. Church had told Tucker that Caboose had been knocked around a few times when he had been with his friend O’Malley. O’Malley had been the reason Caboose had been arrested and had met with Tucker and Church.

Caboose had been arrested for possession of drugs as he had borrowed O’Malley’s car and got stopped by a cop up at Paleto Bay. Caboose being what he was talked himself deeper into trouble and was sentenced to a few years. He served his time in the cell next to Tucker and Church and had taken instant liking to Church much to Church’s dislike as the angry man wanted nothing else than to be far away from him.

“Tucker!” Caboose yelled and jumped up from his seat as he saw Tucker walk towards the path running between the trailers and finally to the main road. Tucker forced a smile at the man as he exited his yard. His headache was going to kill him if he didn’t get some ibuprofen soon. Aspirin was forbidden here after that incident with Flowers. I mean who’s allergic to aspirin? Church couldn’t have known that so it was nobody’s fault if someone came asking. Not that the PD here cared anyways.

“Hey Caboose.” Tucker answered the man. “I’m looking for Church have you seen him lately?”

“Church! Oh yeah, of course I have seen my best friend! Church was in his home with the scary lady and I haven’t seen him go. Freckles, have you seen Church?!” Cabooses voice was loud as he turned to ask the dog who still sat silently by the stairs. Tucker could’ve sworn that the dog was smarter than his owner by the way it looked at him. Freckles barked an answer to Caboose who seemed to have forgotten Tucker’s presence.

“Thanks Caboose.” Tucker sighed as he turned around and faced the light green house that Church owned. It was slightly less weathered than the others but it was still far from greatness. He pushed open the metal gate and weaved between the cars and bushes planted to make the yard more livable. The black motorcycle hidden from the road in one of the sheds told Tucker that Tex was here.

Tex had been seeing Church for as long as Tucker remembered. Well they had had their rough patches but everybody knew how much they loved each other even though they fought from time to time. Tex was a mercenary and though she had worked for an asshole back in downtown Liberty City she was freelancing now. She would disappear from time to time and turn up later with a pile of cash much to Church’s liking. Tucker didn’t really get along with Tex that great, even though they both considered the other to be a friend. Tucker still held some resentment against the woman for breaking his friend’s heart every once in a while leaving Tucker to deal with the asshole.

Church on the other hand rarely left the small town, content in being here and bickering with the others. He was an asshole, always angry and suspicious about anything and everything. Tucker still considered him to be his best friend even though neither of them voiced that aloud near Caboose. Tucker had met Church at the penitentiary and they had shared a cell together for the majority of their last year. Church was sentenced after he had lost it at a bar when he was underage. Shot everybody in there and refused to talk about it ever since and Tucker didn’t insist. Hell, Church never asked him about his past and Tucker was glad to do the same.

Tucker climbed up the stairs to the small patio outside the door to Church’s trailer that was covered in artificial turf Church had stolen from the golf club a few years back. He knocked on the door only to be greeted with a very grumpy and sleepy Church. He was only in his underwear and he had left his glasses somewhere inside.

“The fuck you want?”

“Good morning to you too asshole. Just wanted to know if you had any painkillers. My hangover is killing me.” Tucker answered and waved to Tex as she appeared behind Church. Her blonde hair was up in a ponytail that was slightly ruffled from sleep. She waved back before opening a chest by the door. Church just glared at Tucker still obliviously angry about the disruption. Tex handed over two pills that Tucker took thankfully.

“Thanks a lot. Remember to use protection kids!” he yelled as Church slammed it in his face. Tucker downed the pills and started his walk to the auto shop Sheila owned. It wasn’t a long walk away from the trailers. He walked beside the silent trailer on his left that was occupied by Kaikana. A lot of them called her Sister though as she was Grif’s younger sister. They both were from Hawaii and shared the same deep tan and body build. She was heavier than most of the girls here as well as a lot more confident in her body and sexuality than the girls in the fucking county. She was probably sleeping off her hangover as she had been drinking with Tucker the evening before. Lucky fuck, Tucker thought as he begrudgingly continued to walk.

Sheila lived opposite Sister by the main road and worked as a mechanic at the shop down the road near the entrance to this shit hole of a city. Sheila had known Caboose for longer than the rest of them, and came here for the same reasons the others did, for refuge. She never indulged them in details of her past and the rest of the crew never pushed. That was the greatness of this town; nobody would ask if you didn’t want to tell. Tucker estimated that over half of the city was doing something illegal or had done something in the past.

Sheila’s trailer was empty as Tucker walked by as she tended to get up way too early for Tucker to catch her before work. She was a gorgeous Latina and Tucker knew she was in the same age range as he was but the difference was that Sheila was a lot more mature in a lot of ways. Tucker had tried to get into her pants when she arrived the first time and had left with a broken nose, sore groin and fuck ton of respect for the woman. Since then they had become friends and business partners as Sheila helped him repair the cars he would steal from Los Santos as well as sell the parts she ripped of the ones that she couldn’t fix.

As he crossed the street over to the parking lot of the liquor store opposite the blue block he looked over to his right watching the group of reds cross the streets a few blocks to his west. The tall older man leading the three person group saw Tucker at the same time Tucker saw them.

“What’re ya doin’ dirty blue!” the gruff voice yelled over the distance and Tucker saw how the two others sighed as the old man dressed in a deep red t-shirt raised his fist as he raised his voice. Tucker knew them all too well but the headache made him snippy.

“Go suck a dick you red piece of shit!” he yelled back at him as he gave him the middle finger. Sarge’s outraged screams followed him as he jogged over the parking lot and hopped the fence and cut through somebody’s yard to reach Sheila’s repair shop.

The Latina was underneath the stolen white Banshee Tucker had brought in a few days earlier. Tucker walked over and poked her legs slightly with his foot to tell her he was here as he made his way to the chairs at the back of the shop. The heat outside the shop was left at the door as the air conditioning roared to make the concrete building inhabitable.

Sheila rolled out from underneath the car as Tucker sat down.

“Surprising to see you here this early.” Sheila’s voice dripped with sarcasm. She rose up and wiped her hands on her dark blue work pants. Her white top had seen better days as it was covered in oil and various other fluids from the car. “Heard you and Sister drank the place dry.”

“Fuck that, if that’s all they have it’s their fault.” Tucker laughed as he rubbed his shoulder, the aqua tattoos flexing underneath his fingers as he rolled his sore shoulder. He had tripped on his way back to the trailer and had hit his shoulder on a boulder as Kai almost pissed herself as she laughed. “Anyways I couldn’t leave such gorgeous a woman like yourself to work on such a gorgeous car all by yourself.”

Sheila laughed at him as she sat down in the car trying to turn the engine on. The Banshee purred beautifully as the car started and Tucker could see Sheila fist pump through the windshield. He laughed as he stood up from the chair and grabbed his protective gear. Sheila turned off the engine and stood up leaning on the door smiling triumphantly.

“You know how long it took me to fix the things you broke? Fucking ages is the correct answer. So next time please avoid the hills while in a sports car.”

“Babe I can’t do that. I couldn’t leave you unemployed. Beside it was the cop’s fault for chasing me into the woods. I know I’m irresistible but please!” Tucker exclaimed throwing his arm on his forehead in mock exhaustion. Sheila just hit him in the arm as she walked by but Tucker could see the smile tugging on her lips.

“Get to work prince Charming. We have a deadline to meet.”

Tucker’s laughter echoed from the concrete walls covered in posters of everything underneath the sun. There were movie posters of old movies about two superheroes, vintage commercials of soda and cars as well as more recent ones on an anime Sheila had recommended to Tucker about four girls and monsters. There were also a lot of old license plates littering the walls, covering up most of the concrete blocks that made up the building. The far wall was filled with shelves of tires, most of them old ones that needed to be replaced soon. Beside the table with Tuckers gear were three large light blue toolboxes on wheels that were filled to the brim with every tool imaginable.

Sheila walked out of the door as Tucker lowered the painting respirator on his face. He tightened his ponytail as he didn’t want his dreads to be dipped in the fresh paint. It was a pain in the ass to get the color out of his hair not to mention having to fix the paint layers on the car.

Tucker walked around the car looking at it trying to decide on a color. The cops were looking for a white Banshee but black paint would be too oblivious. He decided on a deep maroon color as it was one he rarely used. He checked the hoses before he started to paint.

Slowly but steadily the white car was covered in red paint. The first strokes looked like Tucker had slashed someone’s jugular beside the car but as more and more was covered the color seemed deeper than blood.

About an hour later Sheila poked her head in through the door. Tucker waved her over as she opened the side door to help with the ventilation. Tucker walked over to the table and laid down his spray gun and respirator. He looked over his shoulder to watch Sheila inspect the car.

“It needs another layer but I can’t do it until this evening. This paint is a gorgeous color but it takes fucking ages to dry.” Tucker said to her. “Like it?”

“Sarge will love it.” Sheila said with a small laugh. “Remember the last time when you tried to give him a blue car?”

“Well this way it’s easier. I swear that man is beyond lost.” Tucker muttered as he walked over to the sink in the corner to wash off any paint that sprayed on his arms. “At least that time he actually took the car. Talking about the devil, you talked to him?”

Sheila leaned against the wall so that she could watch Tucker.

“He’s got a buyer up north. I told him he could have the car tomorrow at noon-ish. That should be enough for the second layer to dry right?”

“Should be. Is he gonna come after the car or do I need to drop it off somewhere?” “We thought it’ll be best if he’s not around the shop as much as possible. Can’t have the pigs figuring shit out.” Sheila said and pushed off the wall as Tucker closed the tap drying his hands on the old as dirt towel beside the sink.

They had run this same operation for a year now; Tucker would take Church and Kai into Los Santos and steal some expensive cars as they would distract the owners if needed. Kai’s strategy was more often than not just to shove her tits into the poor guys face while Church would pretend to be a tourist lost and in need of directions. Meanwhile Tucker would hot wire the cars and drive them a few blocks away and let one of the others drive them north while he would steal another one. When they got the cars to Sandy shores they would stash them away in garages and in sheds and let the heat die down before Sheila would fix the cars and Tucker would paint them.

This was where the reds came in as Sarge as well as Grif knew a ton of potential buyers all over the county and country as well and always managed to find just the right buyer. Tucker would deliver the freshly painted car somewhere where the reds would take over and deliver the cars to the owners. The profit was split evenly and everybody was happy. The feud between the two groups was just for show so the cops wouldn’t think about them working together. But even though they worked together didn’t mean they were one happy family. Sarge distrusted the blues heavily and Church couldn’t stand the Reds in large doses. Well to be honest he didn’t enjoy anybody’s company for long periods of time. Tucker on the other hand enjoyed the company of Grif even though they didn’t have the chance to chill together all too often.

“You coming to the blue team barbecue tonight?” Sheila asked and cut Tuckers thought short. It was tradition that once a week the team gathered together to barbecue and have fun and he didn’t want to miss any of them. Even though Church always got frustrated with Caboose and Church and Tex would make out the whole time the nights were always something worthwhile.

“Of course!” Tucker answered with an eye roll and a smile as he walked out of the shop with Sheila who locked the door behind them. The car would dry for the rest of the day to be ready for the second coat. “I might be late as I need to finish the second coat but save a seat for me.”

Sheila nodded at him as they waved a goodbye with her walking towards the store as Tucker started to make his way back home in hopes to catch a few hours of sleep before he had to be back at the shop.


	2. The Reds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to roll out the second introductory chapter to get the story rolling. So here it is!

Simmons was yet again the one that had to wake up Grif. It was way past noon and the snoring still echoed in the small house they shared. Sarge had insisted on that they would be close to each other as he had claimed the block with four trailers. He had occupied the one by the three satellite dishes as it was the closest to “those pesky blues” and there was no use in arguing with his paranoid mind. Even though they had worked together for a long time Sarge hadn’t grown to trust the other team at all. Grif hadn’t understood the man’s urge to trade off a better house to an old trailer just to be a few feet closer to the other team and had been quite vocal about it.

Sarge’s paranoia had been with him as long as Simmons had known him but that didn’t make him respect him any lesser. Sarge had been a sergeant at the army base a few miles west from the sleepy town and had grown quite a reputation. Simmons had been following him since his early days in the military. He had shown poor skill in physical activities but Sarge had seen past that and had employed him as his assistant throughout Simmons’ training. They had tried to remain in contact after Simmons was discharged but somewhere they had lost contact. Everybody knew that Simmons had been the more distraught one about it.

Then they had met again, this time in the federal penitentiary up roads from here, both in total shock. Simmons had been busted for hacking and was serving his sentence as Sarge was serving for deserting his post. Neither of them wanted to talk about it and they left it alone though Simmons had felt betrayed by the man he considered his leader and father figure. He later found out that Sarge had gone AWOL with the intention of exposing a questionable military project going on in Zancudo. He had broken the news and gotten the project shut down but the military had still charged him with desertion. After he heard that he felt oddly proud about the old man and started to look up at him again. Even Grif had to admit he was proud of the older man even though he couldn’t stand him most of the time.

Simmons had met Grif inside as well. They had put him in the same cell with the large Hawaiian man on his arrival. He had soon found out that Grif was caught in a money laundering scheme and that he had been caught because he had returned to his house to gather his assorted snacks. He apparently didn’t regret anything and went on about how the food was great in jail. The two of them had grown to be great friends even though they got on each other’s nerves constantly. That’s why it was quite natural for them to inhabit the second house on the block with the reds. Grif had insisted on being in the house the furthest away from Sarge’s so they were in the one diagonally across the lot from him. The house was also the largest one, with two bedrooms. It had seemed quite the luxury after years spent in the same small cell.

The pink house west of Sarge’s and south of Simmons’ and Grif’s was Donuts. He had been inside at the same time with all of them and had quickly attached himself to the group and after he was released he found them here and stayed even though he had been quite transitional before his arrest. Donut had told them rather immediately that he was in for solicitation and it didn’t actually come as a surprise to the others at all. Donut was a very outgoing and flirtatious person who more often than not said dirty double entendres, not that he actually seemed to notice them. Donut was actually very interesting behind all the talk and Simmons and Grif found themselves often chilling with him even though they would regularly groan at what Donut said. Donut was younger than the rest of them and his blue eyes and light blond hair only added to that innocence. Sarge seemed quite fond of the newest member and Grif had often seen Sarge talking to Donut urging him to be careful while he conducted his business at the motel nearby. Doc lived occasionally at Donut’s as well though he owned his own house near the medical centre where he worked.

The last trailer was occupied by Lopez, Sarge’s passive-aggressive friend of sorts. They had known each other for years and were the most unlikely pair of friends. Lopez was Mexican and only spoke Spanish even though the others knew that he understood English perfectly and Sarge only spoke heavily accented English. They were unsure if Lopez actually didn’t know how to speak English or if he was just being a dick. Lopez was great with cars and other mechanical projects and he spent his days fixing everything that was broken around the block that Simmons couldn’t fix.

* * *

 

The knocking on the bedroom door didn’t wake Grif up at all. The thing that woke him was a glass of ice cold water being dumped on his head by a very frustrated Simmons. Grif jumped up from the mattress landing on the floor and screamed out profanities as he brushed his now wet hair out of his face. Simmons stood by the door with his arms crossed even though they both knew that he had nothing against Grif as the larger but shorter man was deceivingly heavy and if angry he would easily smash through a wall. That was if he could be bothered at all.

“What the fuck Simmons?!” Grif screeched finally looking at the gangly man standing in the doorway trying to look intimidating. Grif brushed his now wet hands on his shirt.

“Sarge needs us to attend the morning meeting. Like now, I’ve been trying to wake you for ages!” Simmons answered his voice cracking and his words were backed up with gruff yelling coming from outside the trailer. Grif swore under his breath as Simmons left him alone to get dressed. He knew that Simmons wasn’t far away as they both knew that if Grif was left alone he would go back to sleep again. Against his urge he started to pull on the first pair of jeans he found on the floor and with a quick look he decided that the shirt he was wearing was good enough before dragging himself to the kitchen to take a doughnut Simmons had brought for breakfast.

He devoured two doughnuts before taking two others with him as he exited the trailer to see Simmons kissing ass to Sarge and Donut laying sun tanning on the old couch they had on the small open area between Sarge’s trailer and Donut’s house. Lopez wasn’t anywhere to be seen but Grif didn’t care as he continued to stuff his face scooting Donut to the side sitting down on the couch barely listening to the old man spewing his speech.

“What’d I miss?” Grif whispered to Donut trying not to interrupt Sarge’s monologue. Not that he respected Sarge enough to shut up when he was in the middle of his briefing but more so that Sarge didn’t start from the beginning after yelling at Grif for interrupting him. That’s a mistake one would only do once. Donut sat up straighter and leaned in closer to Grif, closer than he was actually comfortable with. The young quite handsome blond rested his arm around Grif’s shoulders and Grif could smell the sweetness of his cologne flood his surroundings. Donut didn’t seem to notice how Grif’s shoulders tensed up at the sudden invasion of private space.

“Well there’s the usual stuff, dirty blues and all that. Lopez’ gonna fix up that clogged toilet in your place or perhaps it was the radio in Sarge’s. I’m not quite sure. It’s been a while since I brushed up on my Spanish. Not so long since I brushed myself against a Spaniard though.”

Donut’s giggle earned them a glare from Sarge and a worried glance from Simmons. Grif brushed off Donut’s arm but he didn’t seem to take it personally. Grif sighed as he hated confrontation and was thankful over the fact that Donut seemed to brush off things others might see as insults.

“Grif get ya fat ass here ya useless dirtbag!” Sarge yelled and Grif complied only to make his day slightly easier. He dragged his feet until he was standing next to Simmons. Sarge turned his attention to Donut, talking to him about what Donut had planned for the day and all that. Simmons brushed his arm against Grif’s the slightly sunburned pale skin against tanned skin.

“You okay?” Simmons asked his tone soft and understanding. “I know how grabby Donut can get.”

“I’m fine.” Grif answered, the answer short and harder than he meant as he felt Simmons tense next to him. “Thanks for asking.” Grif made sure to add more warmth this time, not wanting to upset the man beside him. No matter how much they might fight, he really cared for Simmons. Maybe even more than he wanted to admit.

“No worries. I know how much you like your personal space.” Simmons said and shifted so that his arm didn’t touch Grif’s anymore. Grif didn’t have the guts to tell Simmons that it was different with him, that Simmons’ touch wasn’t uncomfortable or unwelcome. He even opened his mouth to say something not realizing that Sarge had returned.

“Shut ya mouth Grif. Ya look like a fish and most of fish are blue and I can’t have that on the red team!” Grif was confused on how that even made sense but closed his mouth and glanced over his shoulder to see Donut sashay towards the motel further down the road. He would be back later that night. The money from the car business was good and enough for Donut to stop working but he had insisted that he wanted to, not wanting to sit around every day doing nothing. So he worked a couple of days a week instead. Grif couldn’t wrap his head around that. Who wouldn’t want to relax for the whole day?

“Alright men! Today’s no different from the others. I need to get in touch with one of the buyers and Simmons needs to continue with the thing he is doing-“

“Hacking the DMV and the LSPD databases to change the stolen vehicles plate information sir!” Simmons responded with an eagerness mostly reserved for boy scouts. Grif rolled his eyes at the ass kissing but kept his mouth shut. He was hungry and the quicker this was over the quicker he could go to the Chinese food restaurant that was beside the medical centre.

“Yeah that thingamabob.” Sarge answered. It had become clear very early that Sarge had no idea on anything related to computers. “And Grif ya just do what ya do best, being a complete and utter failure.”

“Already working on that sir.” Grif replied with heavy sarcasm that went totally unnoticed by the team leader that was already motioning for them to walk with him.

It was quite usual that the three of them walked together for a while since Sarge went on his walk around the town “to check the perimeter” as Grif and Simmons would sit down at the Chinese food restaurant for Grif’s second breakfast. Simmons usually would chew his ear off about his unhealthy food habits but he would still come every morning and sit with him even though he didn’t need to.

They crossed the street just as they saw a dark figure dressed in light clothes stroll over the road further east on the main road. The figure looked at them just as Sarge glanced that way. Grif braced himself for the loud screaming that would ensue. No matter who or how much someone would tell Sarge that Tucker nor the rest of the blues weren’t their enemies, this was still the default reaction on meeting a blue on the streets.

“What’re ya doin’ dirty blue!” Sarge screamed over the distance. Grif saw his fist raise with the volume and he just glanced at Simmons who hadn’t seen Tucker and had been caught surprised by the sudden yelling. The whole situation made them both sigh as they looked back over at Tucker a few blocks away who had raised his middle finger.

“Go suck a dick you red piece of shit!” Grif groaned as he saw Tucker jog away to get to work as Sarge started his outraged monologue on how disrespectful the blues were and how he was going to introduce them to his shotgun. Grif didn’t listen to much of it, if any, since all of Sarge’s speeches contained about the same message. He himself didn’t give much attention to Sarge anyways, and the feeling was mutual. Simmons on the other hand seemed to listen heedfully to every single word Sarge spewed out. Grif couldn’t fathom how Simmons had the energy to do that at all.

Sarge continued his rant all the way to the Chinese restaurant and when they bid their goodbyes Grif was sure that Sarge hadn’t heard a single word from them.

“That was something alright” Grif sighed as they sat down at their usual booth out in the far end of the restaurant with the glass walls and booths covered in orange leather. The waitress knew them already so well that they didn’t have to order much to Grif joy.

Simmons leaned his head against his hand and fell silent. Grif looked at the man slightly worried about his roommate and friend. Simmons had been silent for longer than usual, not even commenting on the huge plate of spring rolls in front of Grif.

“You ever wonder why we’re here? Like how did we end up in the same place, you, me and Sarge.” Simmons finally asked, his gaze far away from the greasy restaurant.

“I must’ve done something wrong in a previous life to have ended up with Sarge.” Grif muttered digging into his breakfast. Simmons snorted resting his face against his hand looking out at the view. The silence was comfortable as they sat watching the few cars that drove by them. In the distance a train rolled by vibrating the windows slightly.

* * *

 

Sarge ran into the blue team’s mechanic as he was passing the hot dog stand outside the town center. Sheila called out to him and jogged over to him as he stopped by the road. She was smiling widely at him and held out a hot dog to him. Sarge took it gladly only shortly thinking of possible poison. They wouldn’t kill him though, not today as he was their way to get rid of the stolen car in her shop.

“On your walk?” She asked him and he nodded as they started to slowly walk east. “Mind if I tag along?"

“Not at all. A lady like yourself is always welcome company.” Sarge answered taking a bite of the warm hot dog. She had remembered how he liked it.

“Don’t know about the lady-part.” She laughed as they walked slowly by the road. There wasn’t any traffic to be seen. Her shop was a just by the hot dog place and even though Sarge might not want to say it aloud; he enjoyed these weekly walks with the beautiful woman even though they were so short.

“So you heard back from your buyers?”

“They’re talkin’ ‘bout tomorrow. Noon.” He answered her as they crossed the street.

“That should be fine.” She told him after a quick minute of thinking. “The paint should be dry. The usual set-up?”

Sarge nodded and they bid their goodbyes as she jogged over to her shop and he continued his walk around the town gulping down the rest of the hot dog. The space beside him felt empty for a while. Sheila was the only decent blue around. The rest of them were sketchy to say the least. There was the angry one he who killed an entire bar full of men and women in a fit of rage. There was the thief, and who would trust thieves? There was the mercenary who killed for money and hadn’t been caught to this day. There was the tramp. There was the one who had been caught with ten pounds of heroin in his car and his dog.

Not that they were all that bad. They all had their strengths as much as Sarge hated to think about that. Church was actually a pretty good leader and his men seemed to follow his orders easily. He felt a twinge of jealousy at that thought, as his team was far less willing. But the reds were better than the blues in all the other aspects, Sarge thought as he passed the pier that stuck into the lake. He stopped for a while observing the surroundings before he continued on with his walk.

Sarge returned to his thoughts about the blues as he crossed the road and headed back into town. Tucker was actually pretty good at what he did. And he hadn’t betrayed them yet even though Sarge was sure that that was sure to happen soon with him being a blue and all. And Tucker was quite intelligent coming up with the whole set-up even though he needed the reds help in the end. Sarge chuckled contently thinking about how needed his team was.

“Hello Mr. Red man!” Caboose hollered as Sarge saw him walk his dog on the opposite side of the main road heading east when Sarge headed west.

“Hello Caboose!” The old man answered the young man clad in a disgusting shade of blue. Sarge liked the man, his innocence was a welcome change to the backstabbery that was the blue team. It was the dog that Sarge had more trouble with. Freckles seemed to have taken instant disliking for him and every time they met Freckles would bark and howl at him until he left. The feeling was mutual as Sarge hated the dog with the hatred of a thousand suns. He glared at the dog as Caboose continued on his walk, the dog looking back at him as they put more distant between themselves.

“Goddamn mutt.” Sarge muttered as he turned back around to focus his attention to the area surrounding him. He found himself in the part of the town that had burnt down last fall as lightning had struck down on one of the houses. The fire had spread to the neighboring trailers before the fire department had shown up. It had taken over a day to put out the fires and in the end two whole blocks were inhabitable.

Sarge decided to turn around and walk back home as he saw that it was already getting quite late in the afternoon. He had a few business calls to take care of before he would meet up with Lopez to plan out the next day and the delivery of the cars to the buyers. Sarge shuddered at the thought of having to possibly share a ride back to town with Grif and made a mental note to make sure that there would be another car he could take. No man should be forced to be in a confined space with Grif for the time that it would take to drive back.


	3. The Set Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is clearly shorter than the rest of them, but I had to cut out a large chunk of it when I edited it. I'm going to compensate this with an additional chapter posted in the next few days, probably on Tuesday but in the meanwhile I hope this'll be adequate.

The third time the cell phone rang against the kitchen counter Tex forced herself out of the warmth and comfort of the bedroom. Church had dragged her back to bed after Tucker had left with his painkillers, as they both had been up all night. Church had watched a movie staying up with Tex voluntarily while she laid in his lap researching a possible hit she would have to deal with next week. They had called it a night as they had heard Tucker stumbling through the path between the houses as the sun rose. It hadn’t come as a surprise to hear Tucker knocking on the door a few hours later as Tex knew he wouldn’t have any painkillers as per usual.

Still clad in the yoga pants and the blue over-sized t-shirt from the night before she walked out of the small bedroom, doing everybody a favor by closing the door behind her glancing at the still sleeping figure underneath the striped sheets. Church needed his rest, he would be grumpy tonight ruining everybody else’s night if he was too tired.

She suppressed a yawn as she tiptoed over to the kitchen counter picking up her phone. She didn’t recognize the number and glanced carefully out of the windows before answering the call.

“Tex?” the man’s voice was muffled but she would recognize him anywhere. It had been a few years since she last saw him but they had been working together for years before that.

“Wash? You alright?” Tex answered and sat down on the couch staring at the bedroom door. She wondered if it would be best to take this call outside to not disturb Church but she knew he was a heavy sleeper so she figured she would be fine. Tex ran her hand through her hair remembering glimpses of the days when she had still been working in Liberty City with Wash and the others.

“Not that great.” Wash said after a pause. “You remember when you told me to call if I need somewhere to go for a while? Is that offer still on the table?”

Tex remembered the time he was referencing to; it was the last time she had seen him. She had been on her way to the airport to fly to Los Santos leaving behind the toxic environment that had been the larger city back east. Wash had been one of the few coming to say goodbye to her.

“Of course. You in trouble?” Tex answered the man and she could hear commotion from the other end. Wash was somewhere in public and that didn’t usually entail anything good for someone like them. Mercenaries and hit men avoided public places as much as possible when under threat and that combined with the subject of the call made Tex very nervous.

“I’ll tell you when we meet okay? Long story. You still in Los Santos?” he asked and Tex glanced over at the now open bedroom door. Church was leaning against the door frame looking at her worriedly. He had put on a pair of dark sweatpants that hung low on his hips. She shook her head at him as she listened to the old friend on the other side of the call.

“Yeah. You flying in?” She watched as Church pushed off the door frame and walked over to the kitchen to make coffee clearly giving up on the thought of getting a good night’s sleep even though it was way past noon already. His bare feet patted on the floor filling the silence in the house they shared.

“Should be. Might be some hiccups. I’ll text you the arrival time when I know. How long does it take for you to get to the airport?”

“About two hours. Don’t worry about it, I’ll be there. Just be safe okay?” Tex said and heard him disconnect.

She watched Church wash the coffee pot and rested her eyes on his shoulder blades moving with his arms. He had a large scar running from the back of his neck to just below his shoulder blades. Tex had traced that scar a thousand times with her fingers, running them up and down while she listened as Church went on about his day.

She sighed worried about Wash and whatever trouble the younger man had gotten himself into this time as she stood up from the couch and walked over to Church wrapping her arms around his waist. She leaned her cheek against his back as he continued to wash the coffeepot.

“Old friend?” he asked rinsing the pot. She released him as he moved, measuring the ground coffee into the coffee maker. Tex leaned against the kitchen counter, watching Church move in the kitchen. She saw movement in the corner of her eyes and watched Tucker walk by their house to get to his own. She wondered if he knew that some of his hair was painted red.

“Yeah. Wash.” She answered. Church tensed up as the name was brought up.

“Wasn’t it he who lost it?” He asked after a while.

“You’re the one to talk” Tex laughed and leaned in to press a quick kiss on his lips. She looked him in the eyes as she leaned away. “Wash has had some difficult times but he’s fine now.”

Church looked at her his mistrust clearly visible on his face.

“He’s in some kind of trouble right now and I’m going to go get him from the airport when he lands and bring him back here. He’s my friend Church.” She told him as she opened one of the windows in the small house to let the air move. It was too warm outside to make any difference as the air stood completely still but she knew the house would be a sauna if the windows would be closed all day.

“You think he can fit here?” Church said incredulously lifting his hands gesturing at the small house. Tex had to admit it was crammed with just the two of them. But she owed Wash, he had saved her life a few times and she saw him as her brother. She couldn’t just leave him and not help him when he was in trouble. She voiced her thoughts to Church who looked over at the house before wrapping her in his arms.

“We’ll figure something out.” he said silently his voice soft and understanding. They stayed embracing for a few minutes before the coffeemakers light went off to signify that the coffee was ready. “I’m sure he can crash with one of the guys.”

Tex thought over that while she poured coffee into one of the plain white cups that they had loads of. Her stomach growled slightly as her body reminded her that she should eat soon. She ignored that thought as she mentally went through the guys living in the same block with them.

“Well I’m not that much of an asshole to kick him to Sisters. The poor guy would be in way deeper than he could handle.” Tex laughed and Church joined in. He was leaning against the sink sipping on his coffee from the mug that had “World’s bestest Church” written on it with dark blue ink. Even though the cup looked like it was made by a small child it was Caboose who had made it for Church last Christmas and Tex knew it was one of his favorite mugs even though he himself didn’t want to think of it that way let alone admit it to anybody.

“True.” He agreed as the laughter died down. “Sheila can’t take him, her trailer is smaller than the rest of ours, and it would be unfair to kick him there.”

“And I’m not quite sure if she would be able to help Wash if something was after him.” Tex mused with a worried look on her face, her hand running through her hair. “That goes for Caboose as well. I don’t want anything to happen to neither of them.”

“Well that leaves just Tucker.” Church muttered and pulled out his phone dialing Tuckers number. “The fucker’s gonna be so happy.”

Tex walked over and rinsed her cup as Church waited for Tucker to pick up his phone swearing under his breath the whole time. He finally hung up and slammed his phone on the table.

“That fuck.” 

Tex was already out of the door knowing that Church would stomp over to his friend’s house to yell at him. Sure enough the door opened behind her and she walked with Church over the dirt path and pushed open the metal gate to Tuckers yard.

Tex was surprised over Church’s friendship with Tucker when she first met the latter. Tucker was loud and obnoxious and way too aware of his good looks while Church had the shortest temper she knew and a tendency to yell himself hoarse over nothings. Tex had thought their friendship was doomed after their release from lock-up but to her surprise it held. And after studying them and listening to the endless bickering Tex was surprised to notice a strong caring they had for the other. After she had realized that she had made conscious efforts to become more of a friend to Tucker as it would be unfair to Church to cause a scene. Even though Tex’s relationship with Tucker was still strained at points it had evolved to the point that they could consider the other to be a friend and to have the others back, even though they got on the other’s nerves occasionally but was the blue team way.

Tucker’s yard was relatively empty without the exception of a few trees that needed water urgently and an old car in the back corner behind the shed on the side that faced Church’s house. Tex knew the little shed was filled with scrap metal and parts of old cars as well the huge fridge that held most of the alcohol in the block. Church and Tucker had bought the thing together a while back in an effort to make the barbecues easier as well as keep the booze away from Caboose as the younger man didn’t seem to know his limits.

Church strode in front of her as she hung back and sat down at the picnic table in the middle of the yard. The table would be moved to Church’s yard later that night to accommodate the crew for the weekly barbecue. She looked up at the sky confirming what the weather forecast had predicted; no rain for this part of the county for the next week. She made a note to herself to water the flowers on her yard and ask if Sheila’s or Sister’s flowers would need watering at the same time. Church’s fist made the metal door rattle as the sun glared down at them.

* * *

 

Tucker’s shower was cut short as he heard the infuriating pounding on the door to his backyard. He turned the shower off as he swore loudly knowing it was Church who was hammering his door. He wrapped a white towel around his waist and grabbed another one to wrap around his hair as he patted down the hallway and to the door.

As he had thought it was the sweatpants clad asshole who was standing at his door. Tucker glanced over to see Tex lounging on the picnic table. She acknowledged him with a small smile.

“What’d you want now?” Tucker asked turning his attention to his friend who was for once shorter than him as he stood on the lower step looking up at Tucker.

“You didn't answer your phone asshole.” Church exclaimed his voice bursting with anger shaking his phone at him.

“Well I was in the shower in case you missed it.” Tucker answered his voice dripping with sarcasm as he pointed to his wet hair and towel. “Now what’s so important that you decided to grace me with your presence?”

Tucker saw Tex smile wider as Church glared at him. Thankfully for Tucker it was Tex who answered him.

“I have a friend coming over and he needs somewhere to go. He’s in some kind of mess and just needs a place to crash for a while. You know how Church gets along with people so I’m asking you as a friend to please let him crash with you?”

Tucker looked over at Tex and her whole body language screamed worry even though she was trying her best to hide it. This friend was someone important to her and if he helped Tex she might help him sometime in the future. And a favor from Tex was worth at least ten regular favors.

“Sure. But you owe me.” Tucker answered them and Tex visibly relaxed. And it wasn’t like Tucker didn’t house drifters every now and then, his house was the largest one on the block with a second bedroom that Tucker used as a storage room. He would’ve said yes even if it wasn’t Tex’s friend but Tucker didn’t want to admit that to them in case he lost his new found favor from Tex.

He closed his door as they left shortly after that when Tex got a text. He walked over to his bedroom wondering about this friend as their gender hadn’t come up. Not that Tucker minded. He’d be fine with who ever showed up at his door but he hoped it would be a chick. It was a while since Tucker had gotten laid, he had been so busy with dealing with the crew and the whole car business. And most of the chicks in this town was complete and utter bitches.

He let his hair dry naturally as he pulled on a pair of sweatpants that were too long on him as he walked down the hall to the other bedroom. He needed to clear some of the boxes to make sure the guest had at least some space in the tiny room. He changed the sheets on the bed that creaked loudly if jumped on. Caboose had demonstrated that to Tucker when he had helped with carrying in the bed. Tucker hoped it wouldn’t bother his guest and made a mental note to remember to tell that person about the beds creakiness.


	4. The Build Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised the next chapter to make up for the previous shorter one. Next one should be up this Sunday. Happy reading!

Simmons threw himself on the mattress groaning into a pillow. Grif looked up from his laptop at the slimmer man.

“What’s up with you?” Grif asked as he stuffed another potato chip into his mouth licking his fingers clean of the salt. Simmons lifted the pillow slightly glaring at him before burying his face further into the coolness of the pillow.

“I’m just so close to getting this last plate changed but LSPD’s firewall finally caught on to one of my Trojans and now I’m just waiting for my new one to spread into the right places.”

”So… you’re complaining about not having to do anything for a while?” Grif asked disbelievingly shaking his head making Simmons groan into the pillow even louder.

“Grif! Please this is hard and I’m doing everything I can and you’re just sitting there doing nothing!” Simmons all but yelled at the other man who just shrugged and turned his attention to the laptop in his lap.

“Sounds like you’re not doing anything right about now either.” Grif taunted Simmons and received a face full of fabric as Simmons swung the pillow around to hit him. Grif just grabbed the pillow and threw it across the bedroom to land behind the door. Simmons scoffed but smiled when he thought Grif didn’t see. Grif caught the smile but didn’t say anything not wanting to ruin the moment when everything was so right.

The sun outside was starting to set as the shadows elongated in the room. Grif kept reading his Lifeinvader account as Simmons hummed along to the song that was playing from the radio on the bedside table in the corner of the room.

“Want a beer?” Simmons asked as he rolled of the bed and flicked on the lights as he kept worrying about Grif’s eyes as the man would constantly use his laptop in the darkness. Grif lifted his eyes from the screen nodding at Simmons with a smile as the pale man made his way to the fridge grabbing two beers. “Let’s go to Sarge’s upper patio. I wanna watch the stars and Sarge is probably still with Lopez figuring the car drops for tomorrow. “

Grif pushed himself of the bed without any objections and grabbed the bottle Simmons was holding, their fingers brushing together briefly. The warmth of Simmons’ fingers surprised Grif as he figured they would be a lot colder but it was gone as quickly as it had arrived. Grif battled with the urge to grab the taller man’s hand in his but shrugged it off as the pair exited the house.

* * *

 

Tex glanced at her phone checking the time. It was almost six pm and she needed to be on her way soon. Wash’s plane would land in just under two hours. She stood up from the couch on the patio and patting her leather jacket to see if her car keys were in her pocket or inside. She couldn’t feel them and walked inside to see Church leaning over the kitchen counter reading the news on his laptop.

“Anything interesting?” Tex asked moving the empty beer bottles on the counter to find her keys. Church looked up at her, slightly dazed after being immersed in the reading.

“Um nothing major.” he answered rubbing his eyes. “You going?”

“Yeah. Can’t find the keys to the Vacca.” Tex muttered as she moved over to the couch lifting the few decorative pillows they had gotten from Sister last Christmas. She saw Church stretch his back after being hunched over for a long time. The well-fitting shirt lifted to show some skin and Tex had to remind herself that she had to be on her way.

“Have you checked the other jacket?” Church asked walking over to the jacket hanging by the door. He felt around the pockets and with a triumphant laugh he held keys out to her. Tex took the keys and leaned in to press a sweet but short kiss on her partner’s lips. “Thanks babe.”

“Drive save.” Church said following her outside but he stayed up on the patio as Tex walked toward the shared garage between their and Sisters houses. She turned around and smiled at the man leaning on the railing, his dark hair tussled by frustrated hands and the glasses that hung yet again a bit too low on his nose. The man smiled back at her.

“Always. Make sure the kids behave and that you get everything set up. We’re gonna be hungry when we arrive.” Tex mentioned and watched as Church waved his hand urging her to go. She rolled her eyes and hopped into the matte black sports car tucked away from curious eyes in the garage.

She checked the time as she started the engine and carefully drove out of the sandy yard not to disturb the dirt and make the set-up for the barbecue a living hell. She turned the radio on louder as she sped down the small roads leading to the highway and into the city.

Tex loved driving, as did most of the reds and blues. She knew for a fact that Simmons was timid behind the wheel and that Sarge refused to drive if it wasn't necessary but both Lopez and Grif were great with cars. There was a lot she knew about the reds even though she rarely interacted with them. After Tucker proposed the business model they were currently following she had dug into the reds pasts. She knew more than the rest of the blues did but she hadn’t told them anything, a bit of respect for the reds and their colorful pasts.

The continuous bobbing and weaving through traffic never ceased to satisfy Tex and this time wasn’t anything different. She adjusted herself to sit more comfortably for the following hours. There was a lot of road between her and the airport and the whole way back as well.

* * *

 

Kaikana got to the open area between her and Church’s houses a little over eight pm. Sure, she was supposed to be there half an hour ago but she was fashionably late. Church didn’t seem to appreciate that as much as he should have.

“Just go get the fucking pillows.” Church sighed pinching the bridge of his nose after Kai started to explain how it was important that she wasn’t there on time. She lifted her hands up in the air and walked back towards the backdoor to the expansion part to her trailer. She had stacked the bags with the huge pillows just by the door and she bent over to reach them without having to walk into the house. Because fuck going the extra step when you could like, not do that.

“For god’s sake could you please get something longer to cover your ass? Fuck I need bleach for my eyes!” Church shrieked from behind her. She just stuck her middle finger out pointing it behind her as she continued to grab the last bag before straightening up and closing the door behind her.

“I have bleach!” came the cheery answer from Caboose as he emerged from Tucker’s yard with the huge picnic table above his head. It never ceased to amaze Kai how fucking strong that dude was.

“Shut up Caboose.” Church groaned as he turned around to face the happy man carrying the heavy table. “Just put it down by the grills.”

“Just for the record, this is called fashion.” Kai stated as she walked over to the pair motioning to her body at the same time. “Not that I would expect you to know anything about that.”

Church glared at her but she didn’t mind. This wasn’t her first rodeo nor would it be the last one as the grumpy guy would always be grumpy. She needed to talk to Tex about getting him laid to alleviate some of the tensions.

“Where’s Tucker?” Caboose suddenly asked as if he just only realized that the dark skinned man wasn’t there. 

“He’s coming later. He’s painting the car.” Kai told him as she put the bags down. “Church do you want the mattress where it usually is or?”

“Yeah. Everything’s in the same place they’ve always fucking been.” He said as he rubbed his eyes. Kai just nodded and proceeded to flop down the old mattress from the garage next to the garage wall. She clad the mattress lazily with a sheet before dumping the pillows on it. She turned around to see Church trying to help Caboose carry the couch from Church's patio out into the yard.

“I’ve got it Church.” Caboose said with a wide smile on his face as he lifted the couch higher. Church backed away from the train wreck but surprisingly Caboose managed to get the couch and himself uninjured to the yard. He sat down the couch so that the patio, the couch and the mattress made a U-shape on the yard. Kai threw a few blankets and some pillows on the couch as Church dragged an armchair from the patio down to the yard.

“Caboose go get the other one. It’s on the front side of Tucker’s house.” Church told the childlike man who almost bounced at the idea of having something to do. Caboose nodded and sprinted out of the yard.

“Hey guys!” Kai turned around at the sound of Sheila arriving. She was holding two bags of food in her hands and motioned with her head towards the car in her driveway. “Can someone go get the other bags?”

“Sure thing hot stuff.” Kai replied and smacked Sheila’s ass as she passed. Sheila’s laughter filled the quietness that was left behind after Caboose had left to go get the chair. Kai weaved in to Sheila’s yard with ease and grabbed the three other bags in the backseat, slamming the door close with her ass.

“I tried to be quick so you wouldn’t miss me too much.” Kai said with a crooked smile as she returned to the group and sat the bags down by the picnic table where Sheila was going through the food. Church was lighting the grills by the patio and groaned loudly.

“Like fuck I would miss you.”

“I didn’t ask you old man.” Kai said flipping him off earning the same gesture from Church. Sheila just smiled as she separated the meats that needed to be grilled to the side and pulled out the other stuff that needed to be prepared as well.

“Salad? Are you fucking kidding me?” Kai exclaimed as she saw the lettuce and the tomatoes sitting on the bench part of the table. Sheila shook her head at Kai as she sorted the ingredients.

“No one’s forcing you to eat it Kai.” Sheila sighed as she looked over the table counting what she had and if there was anything that she had forgotten. "Besides Tex loves my salads."

"Maybe someone should.” Church replied only to be silenced by Kai’s middle finger and the sounds of Caboose arriving with the chair.

“What should someone do?”

“Shut up Caboose. And put the chair down by the other one.” Church swore at Caboose as Kai turned her attention back to Sheila. Sheila had started to rip the lettuce into the large bowl in the middle of the table and nodded towards the cucumbers.

“The others are washed but I didn’t have the time to wash the cucumbers. Could you do that please?”

Kai grabbed the cucumbers and flipped them around in her hand.

“Nice girth. I had pegged you to go for girth rather than length.” She smirked and watched Church roll his eyes as she walked past him to get to his kitchen.

“Didn’t need to hear that!” Church yelled after her as she bounced into Church’s house as it was closer than her own. She washed the cucumbers and watched from the window at Church yelling yet again at Caboose as he had thrown Freckles’ bone directly at Church and the Rottweiler had pounced after it making Church dive out of the way. Sheila laughed as she minded her own business preparing the salad, Kai could see how Sheila threw her head backwards as she laughed at the sight. Sometimes it hit her just how lucky she was to have found such an exciting group of friends.

* * *

 

Tucker hurried out of the garage after he was done with the second coat. He locked the door after him double checking that he hadn’t left any windows open and then started to jog over to the sounds of music. He hopped over the fence and onto the parking lot by the liquor store and slowed down to a walk after he hit the dirt path between the trailers.

He turned the corner of Sister’s trailer and threw his arms out.

“Miss me assholes?”

Sheila was at the picnic table and offered him a wave before turning back into organizing the plates and the various side dishes. The fairy lights had been hung between the houses and the area underneath it looked super cosy, just the way it had always looked. Sister was lying on the mattress scrolling something on her phone and offered a lazy wave to him.

“No fucking way I would miss your sorry ass.” Church scoffed and glanced down at the steaks grilling on the barbecue. The smell was intoxicating and Tucker’s stomach growled loudly. Caboose smiled up at him from one of the armchairs that completed the circle of seats with the armchairs back facing the dirt path. The air was filled with the delicious smells coming from the grills as well as music playing from the speakers on the patio, away from drunken feet. They had learned the hard way that it was better to have the speakers away slightly elevated from the group.

“Come on! Who picked the music?” Tucker exclaimed as the song turned into a slow country song.

“Fuck you I like this” Church fumed behind the grills but Tucker was already strolling towards the radio to plug in his USB drive wanting to have his phone with him in case he wanted to Instagram some shit.

“When’s Tex gonna arrive with the mysterious friend of hers?” Tucker asked as he stopped beside Church by the grills after changing the music to more recent hits. He looked over at the crowd, Kai laughing at her phone probably texting her friends, Caboose looking up at the stars with a sleeping Freckles by his feet and Sheila opening the containers with her delicious coleslaw and pasta salad. Tucker stuffed his hands into his pockets as the air was quite chilly already. He needed to get a hoodie before he sat down to eat.

“Should be here as the steaks are ready.” Church answered shifting his weight and crossing his arms. “Everything go alright with the car?”

“Yeah. Should be fine for the drop-off tomorrow.” Tucker replied and rubbed his hands on his arms. “Man I’m cold. I’m gonna get my hoodie.”

“Could you get mine as well as I can’t really go myself?” Church asked and motioned to the steaks sizzling on the grills. Tucker nodded and jogged over to Church’s and grabbed his light blue hoodie from the couch. He left the house and threw the hoodie at Church before jogging over to get his from his house.

He chose an aqua hoodie that went well with his jeans and the white t-shirt he had underneath it. Tucker made sure he looked okay in case the stranger that was arriving with Tex soon was hot, checking in the mirror that his dreads looked nice and that he hadn’t any paint on his face. He walked back to the gathering, flopping down next to Kai on the mattress. She moved so that she was leaning against the wall and Tucker laid his head on her lap.

“What’s up?” Kai asked running her hands through his dreads, both of them watching the people in front of them as she put her phone down. Sheila was helping Church with the steaks as Caboose seemed to talk to his dog about the stars.

“Nothing much.” Tucker answered and looked up at the fairy lights illuminating the darkening night. “You?”

“Meh. Slept in today. So fuck you, I was supposed to go on a run with Tex this morning but you’re such a bad influence on me dragging me to bars and shit.”

“Like you were actually going.” Tucker laughed and earned a punch to the arm. He laughed harder and Caboose laughed with him though he had no idea what Tucker was laughing at. Sometimes he envied Caboose and his innocence and ability to enjoy the little things in life.

“I might have gone.” Kai defended herself with a laugh, both of them knowing that there was no way she would have gone running with Tex at the crack of dawn.

“The food’s done assholes!” Church yelled from the table placing the plate on the table. Kai pushed Tucker off her and stood up faster than Tucker had the chance to react. She looked at him offering a hand to pull him up which he took.

“What? A girls gotta eat!” Kai exclaimed and Tucker grinned as they marched toward the table to fill their plates with all the deliciousness in front of them. Tucker piled on a steak and a few scoops of the coleslaw and pasta salad as well as a few corn on the cobs. He grabbed a beer from the cooler and made his way back into the mattress beside Kai who had already started eating.

Church sat on the couch sipping on his beer with his plate on the armrest. He raised his drink as he saw Tucker looking at him and Tucker raised his. Caboose was talking to Sheila as they sat in the arm chairs, Freckles demolishing a steak at Caboose’s feet. Sheila was laughing with Caboose who was telling a story waving around his hand holding a corn on the cob.

“It’s nice isn’t it?” Kai said quietly nudging him with her shoulder.

“Yeah” Tucker said a smile tugging on his lips. Life was awesome with the car ready to go and there was great food and friends with whom to enjoy it. Kai smiled with him and clinked her bottle against his.

They lifted their heads from their plates as the familiar rumble of Tex’s Vacca carried to their ears and a few moments later she pulled up into the garage. Tucker watched Church light up and smiled at Kai who had seen the same thing. The engine turned off behind them in the garage and they could hear Tex laugh as she exited the car. Two doors slammed close and they all waited watching the door to see the new guy. Even Caboose was silent, curious about the addition.

“Hi guys! Meet my friend of many years; Washington.” Tex greeted them all as she exited the garage.

Behind her was a tall man, muscular and broad shouldered. His cheeks were filled with freckles but they were darker than the ones Simmons had. These were more brown than orange. Tucker caught himself wondering if his whole body was covered with them. His eyes were a hard grey shade; a color Tucker hadn’t seen before. They glanced over the eclectic group and his hand went to his short hair, a nervous habit Tucker could understand. The stranger’s hair was dyed blond at the tips and the shorter underside of his hair was darker.

“Hello Mr. Washingtub!” Caboose exclaimed breaking the silence waving at the man and Freckles barked once. The atmosphere relaxed as Tex laughed and walked over to the table to get some food motioning for the man to follow her. Tucker watched as the well-dressed stranger walked in front of him. His jeans hugged his hips perfectly and the grey hoodie wasn’t too large to hide his body away.

“Fuck he’s hot” Tucker and Kai both exhaled.


	5. The Pay Off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter, this one a day early as I'm not sure I would've had the time tomorrow. This one is also more focused on the red team as I try my best to balance them out.
> 
> One quick note about this chapter and the ones still to come; Lopez speaks Spanish but his dialogue is translated and I've indicated that with italics. I've found it more helpful when reading, and I hope you'll all feel the same way. Anyways, happy reading!

Donuts feet hurt after standing around for the better part of the day. He wanted nothing more than to get out of the shoes he had on as he made his way back home from the run down motel. Too bad fashion seldom meant comfort. His step was still light, not wanting to project any weakness to anybody that was watching. That was something he had learned a long time ago when he had sold his body to greasy old men day after day just to survive. The AP pistol he carried around was also a nice comfort. The scars across his torso was a constant reminder to be cautious when moving in the crowds he did.

The memory of the john that had cut the deep slices on Donut’s chest made his breath caught in his throat but he shook those memories away quickly with a smile and a shake off his head. No use in dwelling in the past, he thought and glanced up at the already darkening sky with a smile on his face. The sky had played some part in his choice to stay here after he had served his time at Bolingbroke. During his stay in downtown LS he had missed the open skies and the stars that would twinkle above him during the colder nights. He used to stay up late watching the same stars back home before he had been kicked out and left to fend for himself. The bigger part was the people here, the red team and the blue team and most off all Doc.

Donut wasn’t bitter about his past. He wasn’t anymore, the bitterness being shoved aside to accommodate for new feelings of belonging and happiness. There wasn’t anywhere else he wanted to be than here with the odd group of people that he cared about and more importantly; they cared about him. With all his faults and all his quirks. Here he was equal to the rest of them and here he wasn’t looked at funnily when he told people that he was gay.

“Donut!”

Donut turned his head to see the curly haired man jog over to him. Donut’s face lit up as he man came closer, his features illuminated by the still miraculously working street light. His dark brown hair was tussled after a long workday at the medical center but his eyes focused on Donut with a strength that always took him by surprise.

“Doc!” Donut answered his voice swelling with excitement. Doc smiled at him as he stopped in front of Donut resting his hands on his hips. He wasn’t out of breath as he smiled at Donut, always bragging about that he ran track in high school. Doc pushed up the glasses resting on his nose as Donut grabbed Doc’s hand in his, interlacing their fingers and the pair started to walk the short distance to the red block.

“Man you won’t believe the day I had. There was this guy who had shot himself in the foot and he just wouldn’t stop screaming that he wanted another doctor. I can’t believe that he didn’t trust me, I mean Aloe Vera is the standard treatment for gunshot wounds!”

Donut listened carefully even though the way Doc’s lips moved as he talked was incredibly distracting. The way his eyebrows burrowed together as he told him about the patient made Donut want to trace the wrinkles with his fingers, making them go away. The light coming from the various trailers and houses illuminated the other side of Doc’s face making the dark skin appear darker and Donut couldn’t help himself as he turned Doc around and pressed his smooth lips against Doc’s cutting him off mid-sentence.

Doc relaxed into the kiss after the first surprise, wrapping his arms around Donut’s waist as Donut let his hands tangle into the already messy hair pulling Doc closer to him. Their lips crashed together as they tried to pull the other one closer than was physically possible. Doc’s glasses pressed against Donut’s nose but he didn’t care only wanting to be closer after being separated for the day. Donut inhaled the wonderful smell that radiated from Doc, the sweet mixture of disinfectant mixed with coffee and mint, moaning into Doc’s mouth.

After they broke the kiss for much needed air Doc rested his forehead against Donuts smiling lazily. Donut ran his fingers deeper into Doc’s hair enjoying the closeness, both of them pressed tightly against each other. The only sounds he heard was the distant sounds of music, the distant chirping crickets and the incredibly close beating of their hearts in sync with each other. Donut lowered his right hand and rested it against Doc’s chest, his pale fingers grabbing the soft purple cotton shirt.

“Missed you too.” Doc breathed and Donut chuckled at the breathlessness of his voice not trusting his voice to be any better. Donut pressed a slow but sweet kiss on Doc’s lips before grabbing his hand tugging him to come along. Doc smiled at Donut and Donut’s heart swelled at the sight of the beautiful darker man with his eyes wide and lips swollen the light of the nearby trailer casting long shadows on his skin.

“Let’s go home.” Donut said his voice tremoring in the darkness squeezing his lover’s hand gently. Doc squeezed back and they walked in sync the last bit before Donut pushed open the gate to their yard holding it open for Doc to walk through. He looked over the back fence and saw the two figures on the upper patio above Sarge’s trailer.

The taller one sat more upright than the shorter one did, both immersed in the others company but the taller one turned around when he heard the gate close behind Doc. Donut greeted them with a knowing smile that seemed to go unnoticed as Simmons waived at the two standing in the well-kept garden. Grif didn’t even bother turning around but Donut saw the little waive the large man offered when Simmons hit him in the shoulder. Both pairs offered their goodnights as Donut followed Doc into their shared house.

“How long till they hook up?” Donut asked with a smile as he threw himself on the made bed in the dark bedroom. Doc laughed knowingly at his question, leaning against the door frame flicking off the lights in the living area. He looked down at Donut with a wide smile and Donuts heart skipped a beat at the beautiful sight. It was during times like these that Donut wondered if it all was a dream, life couldn’t be this good and he would soon wake up back at the farm still forced to hide who he was.

Doc pushed off the door frame pulling off his shirt exposing his chest and Donut forgot everything about Simmons or Grif or farms as he trailed his eyes on the exposed skin. He sat up grabbing hold of a belt loop on Doc’s jeans pulling him closer until Doc fell on the bed. Donut threw his leg over Doc’s and straddled the man placing soft kisses on his chest letting his hands roam free. The noises coming from Doc’s mouth were divine and ground Donut back to this world, his thoughts about this being a dream flying away with his t-shirt and being replaced with the thought of making Doc continue voicing his pleasure.

* * *

 

Simmons watched Donut and Doc leave to go inside with a longing that he didn’t dare to voice. His eyes remained on the spot below them where the couple had stood a few moments ago as Grif rubbed his shoulder absentmindedly watching a plane fly above the city its lights disturbing the night sky. He turned back around in his seat on the rooftop and resumed the comfortable position he had had before they we’re interrupted.

The air moved slightly around them as a breeze flew past. The sounds of music carried well over the distance and Simmons could see the fairy lights shine over the blue block like stars only much lower.

“We should do something like that.” Simmons said softly not wanting to fill the air with his voice, as for some odd reason that didn’t feel right. He saw from the corner of his eyes that Grif looked at him. “Something like the blues do. Like a barbeque or something else, just the reds. I think it would be fun to get together again.”

Grif hummed a short agreeing noise before the silence settled around them. Simmons saw that Grif was still looking at him but didn’t dare to look at the man in case he couldn’t stop himself from doing something that might destroy their friendship. It wasn’t the first time that Simmons had to stop himself on leaning too close to Grif in fear that he might react badly to the intrusion on his personal space. There were moments when he had to excuse himself from his company to muffle the urge to kiss the Hawaiian. Sometimes Simmons wondered why he felt that way, why he wanted to kiss his best friend so bad. Grif got on his nerves constantly, not cleaning up after himself and being a lazy slob only bothering on anything if it included the chance of getting more food without any effort from his part. Some days Simmons didn’t know if he wanted to punch him or kiss him senseless. The constant struggle was even harder when the two shared a space 24/7. Even the nights didn’t offer Simmons refuge from the feelings raging inside him as he could hear the other man move in his room.

He shook his head clear of the thought and closed his eyes resting his head against the back of the armchair that Sarge had ordered Grif to carry up the stairs a while back. He heard Grif settle down on the couch that had been carried up by Simmons and Lopez that same night. That night Sarge had held a barbeque up on the patio with the whole team. Simmons smiled at the memory of the laughs and the good food that had been shared.

“Hey Grif.” Simmons said after a while breaking the silence. Grif grunted to confirm that he was listening. “Do you ever wonder why we’re here?”

Grif stilled on the couch and Simmons held his breath as he waited for the others answer. The deeper feelings behind the words lingered in the air and Simmons was sure that Grif felt them as well. This wasn’t the first time he had asked the same question. Simmons actually liked to ask the question a lot as he used it to start discussions, end them and deepen an existing conversation. Grif thought about the question for a few moments.

“Well you dragged me up here.” Grif answered his voice breaking slightly after being silent for so long. Simmons opened his eyes and turned to watch Grif sprawled on the battered old couch. Simmons made a mental note to get Grif to the barbers soon as his hair was way too long again. His eyes locked with Grif as he forced the next question out deciding to be bold. Simmons felt nauseous as he summoned the courage.

“You didn’t have to come. Why did you?” Simmons’ voice was barely above a whisper as he leaned closer to Grif. Grif’s eyes widened as he looked at Simmons the question still lingering in the air. Simmons’ breath caught in his throat as Grif licked his lips and Simmons’ eyes lingered on them.

“Because _you_ asked.” Grif whispered and Simmons’ heart stopped. Was he saying what he thought he was saying? Simmons’ mind raced but at the same time felt completely empty. Grif was closer than before, his lips still wet after he licked them and Simmons felt himself lean in further not being able to stop himself at all. Grif leaned in closer much to Simmons’ joy and their lips were inches away from each other’s. He could feel Grif’s breath warm on his skin and his fingers dug into the armrest that he was leaning over. Finally. This was finally happening. Grif was so close.

“Are ya still up there?! Go to bed already, some of us are tryin’ to get some sleep here!” Sarge’s booming voice from underneath them scared them both causing them to jump away from each other. The older man walked out to the open and pointed his finger at them already clad in his pyjamas. Simmons felt his cheeks turn bright red hoping that Sarge wouldn’t see it in the darkness. His heart still beat fast but his gut was heavy with regret and doubt. Why had he done that? Grif was certainly going to avoid him now, there was no way that this would be okay anymore. He scrambled to his feet and heard Grif stand up behind him as well.

“Yes sir. I’m sorry sir. We’ll be on our way now.” Simmons said his voice breaking and he hurried down the steps as Sarge muttered something about dirt bags while he retreated back into his trailer. Simmons heard the heavy steps behind him as he hurried over the open area and onto their yard stumbling over the fence. His eyes burned with tears at the thought of the lost friendship and his heart was caught in his throat making it hard to breathe.

He felt an arm grab his elbow and swing him around. He looked at Grif seeing his eyes filled with worry and another emotion he couldn’t place.

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have done that…” Simmons trailed off his voice weak and strained as he tried not to think about the warm hand on his elbow or the nearness of Grif. He averted his eyes from Grif’s, choosing to look at the overturned flower pot by the fence. The darkness pressed down on them, as the last light was shut from Sarge’s.

Suddenly Grif grabbed Simmons’ jaw in his hand turning the taller man’s head back towards him pulling it closer until Grif’s lips brushed against Simmons’. Simmons’ eyes widened at the sudden sensation his body tensing up before relaxing into Grif and closing his eyes. Grif moved his lips against Simmons’ and released his jaw grabbing onto his waist instead. Simmons let himself be pushed against the house, feeling the unfinished wood against his back as Grif pressed himself against him. Simmons wrapped his hands around Grif’s neck deepening the kiss with burning passion.

Grif’s lips tasted like the Cheetos he had been eating earlier that night and Simmons found himself moaning softly as Grif slipped his tongue into his mouth. Simmons’ hands roamed Grif’s back, grabbing on to the fabric as Grif took his lip between his teeth gently pulling on it.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.” Grif whispered as he placed sloppy kisses on Simmons’ neck. Simmons moaned and nodded not trusting his voice as Grif continued to pepper his neck with kisses. Simmons’ fingers grabbed tightly onto Grif’s shoulders as he leaned into the touch with a shudder.

The moment was broken as they were startled by a car starting in the distance. Grif stood back looking at Simmons and Simmons couldn’t tear his eyes off the out of breath man standing in front of him. Grif glanced around them before grabbing Simmons’ hand guiding him through the yard and into the house letting the door close after him. As the door closed Simmons pinned Grif against the door kissing him hard and desperate to know that this wasn’t another dream.

The noises that Grif made were feral, echoing against the walls as they stumbled back to the bedroom collapsing on the bed.

* * *

 

Lopez living room became darker suddenly surprisingly him. He looked up from his computer to see that Sarge had turned off his lights in his tiny trailer effectively shutting of one of the light sources in Lopez living room. He yawned as he leaned over in the couch he was sitting on to turn on the small lamp on the side table knocking a spare grenade that rolled underneath his couch. The light flowed from the round lamp illuminating the black and white pictures of old memories that had been hung on his walls. Lopez’s eyes roamed over the photos stopping to look at the one where the tall young man smiled down at a tiny woman who was looking at the camera missing the utter love that shone through the man’s eyes.

Lopez looked away suddenly feeling very homesick and stood up from the couch, the blanket that had been resting on his feet falling to the ground. He stepped over it and strode to the kitchen grabbing a beer from the bare fridge. His eyes flicked over the state over the living area in the small house; he made a note to clean up the take-away Chinese food from the kitchen table and to organize his magazines back to where they belonged. The beer bottles on the side tables should also be thrown away. He didn’t move a muscle leaning against the fridge door crossing his arms. The old wooden clock on the opposite side of the door ticked away loudly and the breeze moved the curtains that were pulled in front of the window behind his couch.

It wasn’t much but it was his. There hadn’t been many years in his life that he had a comfortable and steady place to stay at. He had been on the road for years before he had met the grumpy old man living in the trailer opposite him. Lopez hadn’t liked him back then and certainly didn’t love him now. The southerner was arrogant and stupid but Lopez couldn’t help but to help him avoid death. Not that there wasn’t anything else to do either. So he had stuck around and the pair had grown into an eclectic group of ridiculous people. The language barrier was there, they didn’t understand anything he said even though Donut thought he could. Idiot, Lopez though as he moved over to the couch kicking his feet on the coffee table that was stained over various bottles being placed on it over many years.

There were some days that Lopez thought of leaving but those were increasingly rare. The language barrier wasn’t enough to chase him away from his group that he felt drawn to. It was rare for him to find people that liked and cared for him despite the fact that they didn’t speak the same language and he would be incredibly stupid to throw that away after searching for it his whole life. So what if these people were crazy? Lopez wasn’t sure if he could say he was sane either so it was a perfect match.

The sudden beep from the computer shook him back to the world, Lopez lowered his feet from the table as he read the message that had popped up on the screen. A smile formed on his lips and he sat down his beer to type out an answer to the message.

 

How’s your day been? I’ve been thinking of you… **sent 11.08PM**

_Uneventful. Sarge needed to go through the plans again even though I explained them to him three times yesterday. That senile old idiot._ **sent 11.09PM**

_And I’ve thought about you too. I wish it was Wednesday already._ **sent 11.09PM**

Me too, me too. God I’m tired and it’s late but I can’t go to bed yet. Soon though. **sent 11.10PM**

_Why not?_ **Sent 11.11PM**

I’m still at the barbecue. But I’ll head to bed soon. You should too. **sent 11.13PM**

_You know how I’m with sleeping, Sheila. I’ll let you go back to the party._ **sent** **11.14PM**

Okay. You should try to sleep though. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Love you. **sent** **11.14PM**

_Yo también te amo._ **sent 11.15PM**


	6. The Cool Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry guys, this was supposed to be published yesterday but I've got the flu keeping me in bed. So apologies if this chapter contains some mistakes or misspellings as I'm not even sure if I understand my native language right now. Anyways, hope you'll have a great day and happy reading! <3

Church took another swig of his beer as he watched Tex walk across the yard to go help Sheila get a sleeping Caboose to bed. His eyes lingered on her figure as it moved so fluently between the chairs and the discarded bottles and he couldn't help but to smile. He watched as Tex crouched down to take Caboose’s drink away from his hand, setting it down on the cold ground beside Freckles who watched the two women carefully maneuver the sleeping man out of the armchair he had inhabited the whole night. Sheila pocketed her phone that she had been checking the whole night to help Tex. Church wondered who she was talking to. Whoever it was it had made her smile and Church was happy about that. Sheila deserved someone to make her smile.

He felt Washington move beside him and cast a glance at him. Washington was watching the same scene Church had been watching his eyes filled with wonderment and worry. Church decided to speak up before the newest addition to the family ruined the moment.

“Don’t worry. It’s not the first time Tex carries Caboose home.” He took another sip of his beer as the blond man looked at him.

“Does this happen often?” Washington asked bewilderment apparent in his voice as he raised his eyebrows. Church shrugged.

“Not every week but regularly. In case you missed it, Caboose is… special.” Church muttered and watched as Tex hoisted Caboose onto her arms with Sheila in front of her walking along side Freckles pulling branches and gates aside to let the pair through easily. Caboose was muttering something in his sleep, gripping tightly onto the back of Tex’s shirt. Even though Caboose got on his nerves there was something quite peaceful about the sight.

“Yeah. Hard to miss.” Washington answered softly his eyes fixated on the trio walking into Caboose’s yard and away from their sights. Church watched as Washington drank his beer.

Church couldn’t help but to be wary around him, after all the stories of how Washington had lost it back in Liberty City and even before that echoed through Church’s head as Tex and Washington had sat down beside him on the couch about an hour ago. Tex seemed to trust Washington and spoke easily about the past and the future with him, but Church couldn’t let himself get easily immersed in that conversation.

“Why is he the way he is?” Washington asked suddenly but made sure that his voice was low enough that Tucker and Sister didn’t hear him as they laid on the mattress a few feet away from them discussing some old TV-show about video game physics in real life. Church looked at Washington pondering if he should indulge him before just deciding to fuck it.

“As far as I know he was relatively normal before he met O’Malley. That fucker isn’t anything but trouble.” Church started, leaning back against the couch remembering the story Caboose had happily told them one night at Bolingbroke’s. “Caboose ran with O’Malley up north for a while but then they got into some arguments which ended with O’Malley smashing Cabooses head against the wall a few times. The poor fellow hasn’t been the same since.”

Washington took another gulp of his beer before speaking. Church could see that he felt sorry for the young man whose life was seriously altered years ago.

“Don’t feel sorry for him.” Church scoffed, a tiny bit of rage seeping into the words. He couldn’t tell if the anger was because of Washington’s expression or directed at O’Malley. Maybe it was directed at the whole world for being so fucking shitty. “It doesn’t do anything good. I mean he doesn’t feel sorry for himself and he’s doing just fine if we just help him a bit. He can be a bit annoying like all the time and I tend to yell at him quite a lot but the guy’s just a bit slower than the rest of us. Nothing we can’t handle. He’s family after all.”

Church averted his eyes as Washington kept looking at him. He felt uneasy feeling those piercing grey eyes watching him and Church wondered why he had told him so much. Church had learned that Washington was attentive and there wasn’t much that went unnoticed by him, and Church wasn’t quite sure how to handle that. Tucker was the same way but he wasn’t really as scary as the ex-military now-mercenary sitting beside him. He heard Washington hum softly going over the facts Church had told as silence settled over them. The song changed as well and for a brief second the silence felt overpowering.

Church knew immediately as the song changed what would happen. He looked over at the pair tangled on the mattress and saw the huge smile on Tuckers face. He watched with Washington as the man in the aqua hoodie sprung up from the ground and grabbed Sisters hand pulling her up with him. The large woman laughed as she let herself be pulled into an embrace as the pair started to sway to the music. Washington looked at the odd couple in front of them with confusion clear in his eyes. Church grabbed another bottle for him and Wash as he noticed they were both done with the previous.

“So… Are they a couple?” Washington asked easily catching the bottle Church threw at him as Tucker swirled Sister before they returned to their embrace. Church laughed at the question.

“Nah. I think they fucked once but they’re not a couple. Oh God no.”

“I see.” Washington breathed out as he leaned back against the backrest.

Church looked at him, curiosity about the question filling him but he resisted the urge to ask. They watched the pair sway underneath the fairy lights for a while, watching Tucker laugh at Sister’s joke laughter lines spreading from his closed eyes. The sight wasn’t very unusual, Tucker and Sister were very close but Tucker had told Church a while back that they had decided not to be more than friends. “Seemed unfair towards the rest of the world to deny them all of this.” Tucker had said back then smirking as Church felt the need to throw up at the cheesiness.

Church saw Tex and Sheila emerge from Caboose’s and he watched Sheila wave her good nights before walking back home. Tex stood by the armchairs looking at the couple, resting her arms on top of the chair. The night was peaceful as the last chords of the slow song echoed in the darkness. Tucker stepped away from Sister and with a laugh they bowed to their audience. Tex laughed and clapped loudly and Church couldn’t help but to join her.

Church caught Tex’s eyes after Tucker and Sister stopped bowing and understood immediately what she wanted. He sighed and pushed himself up from the couch.

“Alright assholes. Time for bed. I’ll clean up with Caboose tomorrow. So fuck off.” He said with a clap and walked towards his house catching up with Tex grabbing her hand in his. He glanced over his shoulder to see Sister laughing and opening the back door to her house as well as Tucker motioning Washington to follow him.

Church turned around and watched as Tex opened the door for him. He looked over the yard once more making sure it was empty of people before unplugging the fairy lights making the yard dark and walked in with his girlfriend.

* * *

 

Church’s sudden declaration that the evening was done startled Washington. He felt slightly worried about not being introduced to Tucker before he was left alone with the person he was going to live with for the near future.

Sure, Tex had told him some facts about the residents of this bizarre block. He knew that Sisters actual name was Kaikana and that she had a brother somewhere, that Church was together with Tex and that the Latina woman was the crew’s mechanic. The facts Church told him that night was an added bonus. He knew why Caboose was the way he was, and that Sister wasn’t together with Tucker even though they acted like they were. Wash wasn’t sure why he cared about that last one, and decided on filing it under needing to know as much as possible.

But he didn’t know anything about Tucker. When he had asked Tex in the car earlier that night she had shrugged and told him to get to know this person by himself. And that Tucker might be a bit inappropriate. This frustrated Washington quite a bit, since he hadn’t really a great track record with making people like him instantaneously. Take for example Tex, she had hated him for weeks before deciding that Wash was an okay person. She’d even broke his nose before she began to like him.

That was why he felt the dread grow inside him as the crutches he had leaned heavily on that night left him on his own. He pushed himself of the couch still holding on to the bottle in his hand watching Church and Tex walk homeward and Tucker release his hold of the barely dressed Hawaiian woman. Please don’t let this be super awkward, Wash thought praying to anybody that was listening.

“So” Tucker turned around to look at him. Wash hadn’t noticed how the shorter man’s eyes were so brown, the shade so dark that they looked almost black. They twinkled in the light from the fairy lights as he motioned for Wash to follow him. Wash swallowed and strode across the short distance until he was beside Tucker walking away from the yard.

Church shut of the lights and the night was suddenly much darker than it had seemed and the silence was more pronounced. Wash matched his stride to match Tuckers as the shorter man was the one who knew where they were going. Wash glanced over at Tucker who was stuffing his hands into his hoodies pockets.

“Fuck when did it get so cold?” He heard Tucker mutter smiling slightly, not feeling the coldness after all the years up at Liberty City conditioning him for colder weather.

“It’s pretty warm if you ask me.” Wash mused as they hit the dirt track. The sand and dirt sure were something to get used to, as Wash could feel the sand in his boots. He might need to go shopping for more suiting attire the next day as the boots he had pulled on that morning were more suited to an urban environment instead of this town in the middle of nowhere. Tucker scoffed beside him, glaring slightly up at Wash who just smirked.

“Fuck you dude. It’s fucking cold.”

“I’m Wash by the way.” Wash said and mentally cringed over how he sounded. Tucker glanced at him when he held up the gate for him into the neighboring yard. The yard was surprisingly tidy, an old run down car was parked by the shed but the rest of the fenced of area was bare of scrap and furniture. Wash guessed that Tucker didn’t spend much time here, probably most of his time was spent on other people’s yards.

“Lavernius Tucker. Slayer of women and an all-round handsome and awesome dude.” Tucker said to him with a sly smile as he let the gate slam close behind him.

“Modest as well I see.” Wash couldn’t help but to tease. His mind screeched to a halt, most of the people he had met didn’t like how snarky he could be and he hoped that Tucker wouldn’t be offended. To his surprise Tucker laughed loudly earning a shout from Church’s house.

“Fuck yeah I am.” Tucker laughed after flipping off the neighboring house and held open the door for Wash. Wash ducked underneath the low door frame and stepped inside.

He shouldn’t have been surprised that the house was relatively clean after the yard but it still struck out to him. A slight scent of gunpowder was mixed with the smell of cleaning products and Wash wondered if Tucker actually was this clean or if he was just polite. The tiny open kitchen was clean, only a few plates littering the sink. The couch was tidy and the magazines on the table were lined up in a neat pile. Wash’s eyes glanced over the boxes of ammo just thrown on the counter in the kitchen and the rocket launcher leaning beside the front door. Tucker climbed in after him flicking on the overhead lights illuminating the space. The whole house was decorated with various shades of blue and black, the furniture black or white with blue textiles covering the windows.

“So is every house on this block decorated with the same shades?” Wash asked with a raised eyebrow earning a shift punch on his arm.

“Fuck off dude. I invite you to my house and you insult my decor?” Tucker said with a tone of mock anger. Wash would have fallen for it if he hadn’t seen the smile in Tuckers eyes as he moved past him to the kitchen grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge setting down a pistol he pulled from his back on the counter. Wash sat down on the backrest of the couch looking at Tucker who was leaning on the sink.

“So!” Tucker started setting down the empty glass wiping lips with his wrist. “Tex told me that you ran into trouble back in Liberty City.”

Wash knew that this was going to come up at some point but he didn’t expect it to come up this soon. He wasn’t ready to talk about the events that transpired up north, not before he had the chance to figure things out by himself first. The struggle seemed to be visible on his face as he saw Tucker step forward with his hands up.

“Dude I’m not asking you to share, that’s gotta come from you. Nobody here’s gonna ask if you don’t wanna tell them yourself. But I need to know if I need to be vigilant about strange cars or people that I don’t recognize.”

Relief flooded Wash and he struggled to find his voice, only staring at the complete stranger that stood before him in their own home. This man had offered a place for him, not asking anything else in return but the knowledge if there was something he had to look out for. That was so kind, Wash thought and his mind raced trying to figure out any hidden agenda not finding anything much to his surprise.

“That’s kind of you.” Wash muttered after the silence became too much averting his eyes from the deep brown ones that stared him down. “There shouldn’t be anything coming after me.”

“That’s cool. Just tell me if you start to think otherwise.” Tucker said and Wash heard the relief in his voice and wondered just how many people like him had stayed at this house and just how many of those had caused Tucker to worry about his own safety. He looked over at Tucker who smiled broadly at him as if the discussion before hadn’t happened, standing taller again and starting to move towards a hallway beside the kitchen. “Follow me, I’ll show you your room.”

Wash scrambled to his feet and followed Tucker down the narrow hallway and into the room at the end of it. The room was dark until Tucker turned on the bedside lamp.

“I’m sorry about the boxes and the fact that I haven’t bought the ceiling lamp yet. The guy that was here before you slammed into it and broke it.” Tucker trailed off standing on the other side of the queen bed that was in the middle of the room. The bedside lamp illuminated the room and cast long shadows. There were boxes that were probably filled with ammunition and car parts stacked against the far wall, but besides them the room was quite large and clean. Wash saw that the sheets were just changed, the folds still visible and the smell of the washing detergent hung in the air. Tucker scratched the base of his neck as he looked around the room.

“It isn’t much but at least it’s something.” Tucker said quietly as he motioned around the room with his hand.

“It’s perfect.” Wash answered quick to assure his host that this was fine. It was actually better than he had had before this but he didn’t want to share that to the hospitable man yet. Tucker smiled at him.

“Well I don’t know about that. “Tucker said with a small laugh as he moved around the bed and past Wash who followed him to the door. Tucker stood before a door in the hallway motioning to the room behind it. “This is the bathroom. There’s only one so we’ll have to share.”

“I’m sure I’m up before you anyways so it shouldn’t be a problem.” Wash said as he leaned against the door frame. Tucker glanced at him.

“I should’ve guessed that you’re one of those fitness freaks.” Tucker said exhausted rolling his eyes. Wash just smiled at the man’s reaction. Tucker must be one of the people that didn’t want to work for their body, just letting the exercise they got from their day-to-day outings be enough. Wash on the other hand enjoyed exercising. He loved the sore feeling in his muscles after a good run or sparring match. And in his line of work being in shape was a question of survival.

“Anyways. I’ll let you get settled down. My bedroom’s down the hall if you need anything. Goodnight Wash.” Tucker said and wandered off with a lazy smile and wave, leaving Wash to return to his room. He sat down on the bed, marveling over how soft it was. He might need a few nights to get used to that after the hard mattresses he previously slept on. He adjusted himself on the bed to sit more comfortably and noticed how the bed creaked loudly. Wash made a mental note to see if he could fix that tomorrow morning not wanting to disturb his already so friendly host.

It wasn’t long before the realization that he hadn’t packed anything with him hit Wash. He had to leave the city so quickly that he hadn’t had the time to pack any clothes with him nor any hygiene products. He flopped down on the bed covering his eyes with his hands groaning over his stupidity. He was supposed to hit the supermarket to buy a tooth brush before he settled down.

A knock on his door surprised him and interrupted his inner monologue about how stupid he was. He hopped down from the bed and walked over to open the door. Tucker stood on the other side with a bag in his hand, only wearing a pair of black boxers. He had let his dreads down and they cascaded down his chest but that wasn’t what caught Washington’s eye. It was the large aqua colored tattoos covering his arms and Wash saw that they extended to his back. Washington had a hard time focusing on Tuckers eyes.

“Sorry to bother but I forgot this.” Tucker said and gave Wash the bag in his hand. “Tex texted me earlier today that you might not have anything with you and I bought some things you might need. If there’s anything else I can borrow money for you to go buy yourself as I’m working tomorrow and can’t go with you. But I’m sure some of the guys will take you if you ask them.”

Wash opened his mouth only to close it again as he looked down into the bag. He saw a toothbrush and paste as well as shower gel and shampoo. Tucker had also bought him some change clothes and a towel. Wash just stared at the bag and Tucker before thanking the other man.

“No worries. I’ve been where you’ve been and it’s seriously sucky. So I’m happy to help another in the same spot. Anyways I’m gonna hit the bed and I recommend you do the same. Cabooses fucking dog likes to get up way too early and it’s gonna wake up the whole block before Caboose controls it. Welcome to Sandy fucking Shores.” Tucker said sarcasm dripping from his voice before walking back to his room with a laugh. As Wash had thought, the extensive lines drawn across Tucker’s body extended to his back, curving around the faint outlines of muscles and dipping between his shoulder blades. The shapes were foreign to him, they were organic and smooth as they contoured against his dark skin. Wash felt the urge to reach out and trace the lines.

Wash stood a long time in his room wondering what Tucker had meant about being in the same position as he was and marveling over the kindness the man showed a total stranger.


	7. The Addition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I missed last Sunday, I'm still trying to get better from the nasty flu that totally floored me for almost two weeks. I'm sorry about that! I'm thinking about posting the next chapter this Sunday, it's more backstories about the guys and I quite like it. Also! I'm starting to kick off my bachelors thesis work, so at some point this fall/winter I'm going to have to take a break but I don't know yet when that'll be. I hope you guys understand! <3 Anyways, happy readings! <3

Simmons had left early the following morning with a quick kiss leaving Grif to get himself up by himself. Simmons had stayed in Grif’s bed the whole night safely tucked in Grif’s arms so after he left Grif felt cold. He pulled the blanket up to his chin staring into the wall trying to get his body moving from the bed knowing that soon Sarge would burst into the house screaming at him to get up. That old man would be his death, Grif thought grinding his teeth.

He rolled onto his back, lying on his back listening to the clock tick in the neighboring room. His mind was filled with memories of the night before and he had trouble falling back to sleep. He rubbed his eyes, cursing the memories even though he didn’t mean it. Last night was probably the best night of his life. Finally being able to touch Simmons, finally being able to taste him on his lips. He had been dreaming about that for years, well almost from the day they met. He hadn’t wanted to act on those dreams in case Simmons didn’t want the same things. So last night when Simmons had leaned in on the roof top Grif’s heart had almost given out. Then the kiss against the outer wall, the softness of Simmons’ lips was something he hadn’t thought of. And the way he pressed against him, the need growing inside both of them.

Secretly he had been glad that Simmons left early that morning, this way he avoided the awkward talk this morning. Grif groaned at the thought of having to go through this, as he knew that Simmons wouldn’t just let this be what it was. Grif didn’t actually know what “this” was but he wasn’t keen on going through all the possibilities with the neurotic man he had shared a bed with.

His musings were cut short by the frantic banging on his front door before the southern man barged in. Grif hurried to cover his naked body with the blanket only barely making it before Sarge appeared by the bedroom door. He had his shotgun in his hand, his face twisted by determination and anger.

“Goddammit still in bed? Hurry up fat ass we’ve got a job to do!” He shouted before turning around and walking back out. “If ya ain’t out by five I’m going to persuade you to do so. With my shotgun!”

Grif rolled his eyes and forced his body to move until he was sitting on the edge of the bed. Grif was thankful that Sarge had missed the bottle of lube on the bedside table as he rummaged through the pile of clothes on the floor. That was another conversation he’d rather avoid. He settled on the combat shorts he had worn a few days ago hoping that Sarge wouldn’t see the stain from the jelly that had fallen out of that one pastry. He grabbed the first t-shirt he found pulling the orange fabric over his head. He slipped on a pair of sneakers in case he needed to walk which he hoped to God he didn’t have to.

“Hurry up Grif! My trigger finger’s itchy!” Sarge bellowed from the outside as Grif shuffled to the living area grabbing his machine gun, throwing it over his shoulder as he grabbed some doughnuts from the box on the counter.

“Shut up already.” Grif said as he emerged from the house, putting on his sunglasses as the sun was more brutal than he had remembered. The heat shimmered on the worn down asphalt and Grif wished he had the day of to just soak in the lake. “Fuck its hot today.”

“Stop ya bitchin’. There’s money to be made.” Sarge said standing straight by the beat down car parked by the house. Grif walked out of their yard and got in the driver’s seat wincing as the steering wheel burned his hands. As per usual Sarge refused to drive unless absolutely necessary. Grif threw his gun into the back seat as Sarge sat down in the passenger seat opening the windows to let the air move.

“You couldn’t steal a better vehicle than this piece of shit?” Grif asked as he started the engine that stuttered and made a godawful noise. This was probably the only car nearby that was red, and Grif shook his head at that thought. Sarge and his tendencies to trade comfort just for the colour of the car. Sarge just shook his head, his elbow out of the window his bright red shirt moving slightly with the breeze. The shotgun was on his lap, the barrel pointing conveniently at Grif.

“Stop whinin’ and let’s get goin’. Those dirty blues aren’t getting the best of us.”

Grif didn’t even bother to correct him and pulled out of the yard. The only thing that kept Grif doing this was the money. If all went well they would leave the meeting with about 160 000$ after selling the Banshee and the Comet that Tucker and Sheila had fixed. The sale price on those in a store was a combined 175 000$ and there were a lot of people wanting to have those car’s at a lower price. And with the driving style in the county; let’s just say that they dealt with a lot of familiar faces. The promise of at least 10 000$ in cash kept Grif going and dealing with the stubborn and paranoid ex-solider beside him.

The road in front of him was straight and uninterrupted as he merged onto Joshua Road. He ignored the speed limit of 50 mph and floored it heading west out of the town, the early morning traffic being almost non-existent. Grif leaned his head against his arm that rested on the windowsill tapping along with the song playing on the radio totally ignoring the loud monologue that Sarge was rambling beside him. The desert changed quickly into mountains as they passed the white church that was built on Route 68 and turned onto the small dirt road behind it that lead deeper into the mountains. The car shook violently and the stones that their tires loosened pelted the car.

Soon he turned into a small path that lead to a farmhouse that had been burned down years ago that nobody had bothered fixing. As their car barely made the small climb onto the yard of the house he saw the two cars waiting for them with Tucker sitting on the hood of the Banshee. Sheila was leaning against the midnight blue Comet. Grif knew immediately which one he would have to drive.

He turned off the engine and exited the beat down car with Sarge and they walked over to the sports cars. Tucker hopped off the car, his dreads bouncing on his bare chest as he looked behind them at the car Sarge had stolen.

“What the fuck dude?” Tucker exclaimed frustration seeping through his voice. Grif just shrugged and pointed at Sarge who stared at the blue.

“I bring you these pieces of art and you bring me a box on wheels?” Tucker huffed throwing his arms around. Sheila shook her head amused as she grabbed Tuckers shoulder.

“Let us know if there’s any trouble.” She said her grip on Tucker’s shoulder tightening as he started to say something. Her gaze met Sarge’s first and then Grif’s. Grif knew about Sarge’s soft spot for the blue woman and was glad that she was here. This would’ve taken much longer and it would have probably ended up in a fist fight if she wasn't here.

“And we’ll be there to divide the money.” Tucker said, still angry about the cars pointing at Sarge.

“Ya can trust the reds to keep the money safe. We’re not completely rotten like ya blues!” Sarge exclaimed pointing his shotgun at Tucker. Grif sighed and wondered why these meetings always ended up like this.

“Let’s just get going. We’ll see you Wednesday night.” Grif said and the rest of them slowly walked away. Grif trucked to the blue car, watching as Tucker kicked the transport cars wheel as Sheila laughed. Sarge had already hopped into the red Banshee.

Grif hopped into the brand new car placing his machine gun on the passenger seat, inhaling the intoxicating smell of a new car that hadn’t been tainted with anything else yet. He looked over at Sarge seeing him nod his head, starting the car and leading the way beside the blues and onto the road again. Grif followed him, waving at Tucker as he passed. As he hit the paved road again he cranked up the radio, blasting the recent hits in the car.

The route to the meet up was longer than it needed to be but Grif had agreed with Sarge that they needed to avoid Sandy Shores in case someone recognized the cars. So they veered to the west instead, curving along the Great Ocean Highway and driving through Paleto Bay instead of going east and driving along Senora.

Grif’s arms had almost shook off entirely from driving on the rumble strips as they finally pulled over just east of Paleto Bay on the round lookout point by Up ‘n Atom diner. Grif’s stomach rumbled at the sight of the diner but followed Sarge deeper into the shades of the lookout point.

This time the buyers were younger than the guys they usually dealt with Grif noticed as he stopped by them. Sarge threw him a look over the cars, noticing the same thing. The guys were young, barely 18 and Grif could see the guns sticking out underneath their baggy shirts. He grabbed his machine gun in his hand as he walked over to them.

“What’s up fatso?” One of them leered as they walked over to him and Sarge. Grif just looked at them, not bothering with their attempts to rile him up. Sarge had his shotgun ready in his hand in case these idiots tried something. Grif was really hungry and not in mood for this.

“Ya want them or not?” Sarge said his voice deeper than usual as he took a step forward the guys. One of them laughed and threw a gym bag at Grif. He caught it and with a look at Sarge he opened and roughly counted the money. After he was done he nodded at Sarge who had been looking at the punks.

“The keys are in the ignition. We’ve never met.” Sarge growled and stepped aside to let the guys move towards the cars laughing and high-fiving each other. What losers, Grif thought. The taller one sat down in the Banshee as the shorter one who looked like he was the leader smiled smugly at them before sitting down. Sarge and Grif watched as the two cars revved up and merged with the traffic.

“Check for bombs.” Sarge said as they neared the car the two had left behind for them to get back to Sandy Shores like was negotiated. The old beat up jeep’s roof was down and as Grif neared the car he could smell the gasoline leaking.

“Gasoline.” He said to Sarge who was circling the jeep. He nodded and peeked inside the car. Grif peeked underneath the hood and immediately saw what he was looking for.

“Ignition bomb.” he shouted at Sarge who swore loudly. So much for that, Grif thought as he closed the hood carefully before taking a few steps back.

“We should get back in case it has a remote.” Sarge muttered and they both backed away from the car. The machine gun smacked against Grif’s side as they walked. “Knew they were trouble the moment I saw ‘em.”

Grif hummed in agreement. Fuck this, they were stuck here with a car with a bomb inside it and 160 000$ in cash. And he knew Sarge would never get inside a taxi on his own accord. That left either calling someone and waiting two hours for them or stealing a car from the diner’s parking lot. The red team didn’t walk unless forced on gunpoint and perhaps not even then so walking was out of the race much to Grif’s joy.

“I’m gonna call Simmons and get him working on finding those assholes.” Sarge said and pointed to the car with his shotgun. “Blow that up, we don’t wanna some kid stumbling onto it.”

“We gonna steal our ride?” Grif asked as he grabbed his weapon into his arms, throwing the bag on his shoulder. He released the safety and planted his feet on the ground. Sarge grunted behind him as he tramped over to the diner pulling out his phone. Grif made the calculations in his head, 40 feet should be far enough so that he didn’t take too much damage from the explosion. He took the shots.

The car exploded into a fiery ball of death and Grif shook his head to clear the ringing. He might be dizzy for a while but otherwise he should be fine. He threw the machine gun on his shoulder and walked over to the diner just in time to stop beside Sarge as the first patrons started to rush out of the diner to watch the fire. Sarge hung up just as he arrived.

“Simmons’ workin’ on it.” Sarge grunted and cast a glance over the parking lot. The people that stood outside the diner all wandered over to the burning hunk of junk by the overlook. Sarge walked the other way and looked around for the best car.

“Let’s take this one.” He said pointing at the black range rover parked underneath the trees. Grif didn’t mind at all, the car was probably cool from being underneath the shade and it certainly had air conditioning.

“Sure. You do your thing, I’m gonna grab a shake from the diner. Don’t start with me, I’m not driving unless I get my shake” Grif said and walked away from Sarge who fumed. Grif was sure to hear about it but he didn’t care, the shakes here were divine. The chocolate was the best shake in the country, Grif was sure of that.

He returned to the car with an extra-large chocolate shake and a water bottle for Sarge as he knew the older man must be parched underneath the midday sun and the drive. He threw the bottle to Sarge who was standing beside the passenger side door before they both climbed into the car.

Grif saw the owner notice his car being taken but he was too slow as Grif floored it and drove past him and into the traffic. He slurped on the shake as both he and Sarge were mostly silent for the ride listening to the radio. The drive was uneventful, as the traffic was light on the highway as they drove the eastern road into the desert. The cow lands of Grapeseed blew past them as they floored it to the exit to Sandy Shores.

As Grif pulled up at the parking space on the red block he saw Simmons hurry over from the patio over Sarge’s with Donut. Both of them looked worried, Sarge’s phone call and the delay must have seemed longer for them than it was for Grif and Sarge.

Sarge slammed the door close as he met with the two others as Grif took his time, grabbing his gun and the gym bag full of money with him. Lopez would take care of this car soon, and he didn’t want to have to explain to everybody why he had left the money in the car knowing it would be destroyed.

“So who were they?” Donut exclaimed as Grif reached the group. His face was filled with worry and anger making him look older than he was. He was wearing the shortest shorts Grif had ever seen with the pink tank top and the image was now burned into his brain. He groaned as he averted his eyes frantically trying to erase this memory.

“Some punks. I’ve got the emails in my trailer so Simmons can start on finding them. This will not be forgotten.” Sarge fumed as he led the way to his trailer the whole group following him. Simmons stuck behind and stopped Grif with a firm hand on his chest. Grif looked up at the man, Simmons’ whole body visibly upset.

“You alright?” Simmons asked quietly his voice breaking slightly.

“Yeah. Not a scratch.” Grif answered not being able to look away from the piercing brown eyes that looked at him. The hand on his chest pressed slightly and Grif appreciated the weight.

“Good.” Simmons breathed lifting his hand away and smiled at him. Grif smiled back at him, and he could still feel the warmth of the long fingers on his chest. Grif bumped Simmons’ arm as they walked into the trailer to see the rest of their group.

* * *

 

“So do you do anything else than just soak?” Wash’s voice disrupted Tucker’s thoughts as he stood in the lake. Tucker looked up and saw Wash sitting down on the protruding rocks near him. How long has he been sitting there? And how had he not heard him?

“Well it’s too hot to do anything else. And I’ve got nothing else planned for today anyway.” Tucker answered and walked closer to Wash his feet sinking into the soft sand holding the beer bottle above the surface. The water was shallow enough here, the water only reaching his waist. He had his sunglasses on, shielding his eyes from the harsh rays beaming down on them like it was the last day on earth. He was only wearing his swimming shorts as it was way too hot for anything else.

The ride back from the drop-off had been a nightmare as the car was basically an oven just as he had thought the moment he saw the piece of shit the reds had arrived with. Sheila and he were both completely soaked with sweat as they had finally arrived back home. Sheila had promised to come swimming with him in a while, as she wanted to grab Caboose before that. Tucker had quickly changed into swimming attire before jogging over to the lake.

He hadn’t seen Wash that morning at all, as he was gone as Tucker woke up just like he had thought. Church texted him later that Tex had invited Wash along for her morning run. Tucker didn’t mind, he actually appreciated that he wasn’t the only one here that Wash knew. And Tucker had been working the morning so he hadn’t been with Wash as he had been shopping with Caboose. Poor guy, he knew how excited Caboose got in any store.

Wash was sitting cross legged on the largest rock by the lake and as Tucker walked closer he saw that Wash was wearing some of the new clothes he had bought today. He had sandals on, a pair of light grey shorts and a loose white top showing his muscles. Tucker knew that he was in shape but that was different than seeing the muscles, slightly shiny from sweat and moving as Wash settled more comfortably on the rock. The aviators he had on reflected his approach as Tucker waded in the water. As he got closer to the shore he could see the blaring white of scars on Wash’s arms but decided not to bring them up to the man as he seemed relaxed where he was sitting.

“Yeah. It’s like someone turned the sun on too high” Wash said glancing up at the sun.

“Not quite the north-eastern weather, huh.” Tucker smiled and dipped his hot shoulders underwater holding his drink high up. Wash laughed and Tucker couldn’t help but to feel like Wash didn’t laugh that often. He made it his personal mission to make the man laugh more often, more laughter couldn’t hurt as the mercenary sitting above him on the rock seemed like he took things a bit too seriously.

“Not quite.” Wash answered but the smile remained on his face. Tucker smiled back at him, proud that Wash seemed to like to be around him. “Better though, the cold was miserable.”

Tucker laughed at the statement, the dryness feeling surprisingly invigorating after all the other styles of humor that filled this town. Wash leaned back against his arms and Tucker had to stop himself of staring as Wash’s biceps flexed and stretched.

“Last one in the water is a red!” Tucker heard the yell before he saw them, whipping his head to see the source of the commotion. Kai’s shrill laughter mixed with Caboose’s excited screams as they both thundered down the road leading to the beach that stuck out into the wave breaker they were beside. Wash seemed alarmed but Tucker laughed as Caboose barely kept upright sprinting as hard as he could with Kai holding him back by his arm. Caboose was only wearing his bright blue swimming shorts and Kai was wearing her favorite sun yellow bikini’s that were arguably two sizes too small and way too revealing.

Tucker cheered them on as they neared and he moved nearer the rocks to get away from the barreling mass of flesh thundering towards them and hopping into the water.

“CAREFUL!” Sheila yelled after them as she walked calmly towards them on wave breaker behind Caboose and Kai carrying two large baskets and a cooler. As Wash saw that he stood up and walked over to help with the carrying. Tucker watched him carry the other basket, softly talking to Sheila as suddenly he felt a hand grab his foot and yank him underneath the surface.

As he broke the surface again Caboose was laughing loudly at him. Tucker couldn’t be angry at him, the poor kid looked so happy. So he laughed with him, watching as Sheila and Wash sat the baskets down on the shore and saw Kai dive in to pull Caboose underwater. She yanked him and Tucker saw the brief moment of shock on Cabooses face before he was pulled under.

“You got beer?” Tucker asked Sheila as he tossed the bottle that now was filled with lake water onto the shore. Sheila opened the cooler and threw him a bottle. Tucker caught it, the coldness of the glass feeling heavenly on in his hand. Caboose emerged from the lake spitting out water. Kai sprung up behind him, her hair flat down her head and mascara running on her cheeks. She smiled running her hands on her cheeks wiping away the smudges.

“Let’s jump off that rock Sister!” Caboose declared and pointed at the rocks Wash had sat on and before anybody had time to say anything Kai and Caboose waded over to the rocks. Tucker moved to the side, drinking his beer watching Caboose climb on the rock.

“Jump to the right. It’s deeper there.” Sheila yelled at the two and Caboose faced the right side hopping in with his legs tucked in underneath him, making a huge wave that rocked Tucker as it reached him. Caboose swam over to Tucker, his hair pushed aside and his eyes sparkling with joy.

“Come on Kai!” Tucker yelled and cheered as Kai posed firstly on the rock. He whistled as Caboose urged her to jump so it would be his turn again. Kai backed a step and sprint jumped tucking herself onto a ball and making the largest splash ever. Tucker laughed and patted Caboose’s back.

“Sorry buddy but hers was better.” Caboose looked at him with the familiar determination.

“Well I just have to try harder!”

Kai came up for air laughing. She brushed her hair aside and looked down.

“Have somebody seen my bikini?!”


	8. The Subtraction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sunday-funday with a new chapter! Happy reading! <3

Washington sat with Sheila instead of swimming with the others which surprised her. They hadn’t had the time to talk at the barbecue the other night and she was thankful over the chance to get to talk to the new arrival about more than just the pleasantries. She leaned against the cooler resting her arms on top of it as they watched the three others splash around in the water. She looked at Washington who sat beside her cross legged and deep in thought as he watched the shenanigans that were ongoing in the lake.

“Not much for water?” She asked after a while, getting bored at the silence. Washington seemed dazed at her words as if he was lost too deep in his thoughts. Sheila knew how bad that was, her memories weren’t much better than the rest of the guys.

“Not really.” he answered her, casting an apologetic smile. “I can swim if you’re wondering, but I don’t have many positive water memories.”

“I see.” Sheila answered thinking over the answer. Totally normal actually, she knew that Lopez avoided water as well. The two might have something in common. 

Wash leaned back and laid on his back shielding his eyes from the sun with his arm. He actually looked quite relaxed and that pleased Sheila to no end. The fact that the ex-mercenary that had been in serious trouble just a few days ago felt safe enough to lay down in the open spoke something about the crew.

“So why aren’t you in the lake?” Wash asked after a while. Sheila looked over at him before she looked back at the swimmers.

“Someone needs to watch them. And I’m not the best swimmer out there. I might dip in once in a while to cool off but more than that is a no go.”

Wash hummed as the shrill yells from the lake echoed around them. He had his eyebrows furrowed together as he looked at the three idiots floating together a bit further than they were before. Sheila looked over at them before averting her eyes back to the tall man beside her.

“Ask away.” She stated and leaned behind her to crack open a bottle of beer and handed it over to Washington. He looked confused and his cheeks reddened slightly making the freckles pop as he took the beer. “I know you have questions about us. I’m giving you the chance to ask. So fire away.”

Washington’s face relaxed as he drank his beer figuring out what to ask first. Sheila opened a beer for her as well leaning back against the cooler crossing her legs that were stretched out on the concrete slab they were sitting on smoothing out the wrinkles in her army green summer dress.

“How did you all meet?” Washington asked, the curiosity coloring his words. Sheila looked over at him thinking about where to start. Well the beginning seemed like the most logical place.

“How much do you know?” She asked not wanting to tell him something he wasn’t supposed to hear.

“Well I know about the cars, or at least some bits of it. Tex told me on the way over that you guys deal stolen cars?”

“That’s true. So I guess it’s safe to tell you most of it. We’re gonna be here for a while anyway. So, I was a lot younger when I started working with cars. It was with my father first. He was the sweetest man you ever met, kind to strangers but not afraid to kick some ass if needed. Immigrated here from a small town in China when he was younger. After he died I continued with the cars in honor of him and after a while got the job of fixing cars up north with a gang. I’m sure you heard of O’Malley? Mean son of a bitch, always angry and he packed a mean punch. I know that from experience. So I kept away from him most of the time, dealing with the cars not the people. But then one day this really young guy shows up and joins the ranks. And he seemed so innocent that I couldn’t let O’Malley do something to him. Too bad I couldn’t help him in time.”

“Caboose.” Washington breathed and looked over at the joyful young man laughing with his friends in the water with a pained expression. Sheila couldn’t help but to be overwhelmed by the regret and guilt that flushed over her every time she thought of those days. Her voice shook as she continued.

“So you heard about the incident. I was there, it was me who stayed with him as he bled until the paramedics arrived. Couldn’t see blood without feeling sick for a while after that.” Sheila shuddered at the memory. “But the worst part was that Caboose wanted to go back after he recovered. I couldn’t talk him out of it, so I went back with him to look out for him. He wasn’t the same after it. They call it regression. Reverting back to a childlike state to cope with trauma. I just got angry.”

Washington nodded his face dark. Sheila got the feeling he knew more about trauma than she did but didn’t press. He wanted to hear this, so he would hear it. It wasn’t her place to pry, he needed to want to tell her or somebody at least.

“Then he got busted for drug possession. He took one of O’Malley’s cars that was filled with all kinds of drugs. He was sentenced to serve his time at Bolingbroke’s and met Church, Tucker and the reds there. I floated around the county not really settling down but then I got the call a few years later. Caboose was out and he would stay with his new friends and asked if I wanted to visit. And I did, but I couldn’t leave. So here I am, still visiting.”

Both of them were silent looking at the car that sped past them on the near road. Sheila felt heavy inside, the emotions weighing her down. All the guilt, all the worry, all the regret mixing together to make a cocktail that she wanted no part of. Kai came over to get drinks for the three of them greeting them both with excitement that felt out of place after the heavy subject.

“What about the rest?” Washington asked after Kai returned to the lake. “If you want to tell me. You don’t have to if you don’t want.”

“I won’t tell you everything about them, that’s for them to share but I can tell you some basic stuff. Take Kai for instant. She’s the sister of one of the reds, Grif. They’re both from Hawaii but moved here for a better future. She’s been moving around, not staying in one place for long. She’s super close with Tucker and Caboose, and I think she might have hooked up with Tucker at one point. She doesn’t want to talk about it, which is really weird since she loves to talk about that stuff to anybody that’s willing to listen. Don’t let her looks deceive though, she’s fucking lethal and absolutely invaluable as a distraction. Go figure.” Sheila laughed and Washington joined in. She saw Tucker glance up from the lake at the sound of that and a small smile popped up on his lips.

“Church is mean and angry and has some serious anger management issues. Got busted after he lost it at a nearby bar and killed four customers and the bartender. He was found outside sitting on a car hood with blood all over him. That stuff you can read in a newspaper or online, man that shit was all that was reported on for a while. Church was sentenced to serve at Bolingbroke’s and eventually shared a cell with Tucker. Settled down here with him and Caboose after their release. He’s a miserable piece of shit when Tex leaves and she does that relatively often. So avoid him if you know Tex is gone, makes life easier for you and all the rest of us. Tucker’s really the only one Church appreciates during those times.”

“Sounds like a dysfunctional relationship.” Washington said his face showing the apprehension that was masked in his voice. Sheila laughed and shook her head.

“It’s beyond fucked up by normal standards. Church loves her more than life itself and she cares about him as well. Not as much, Church’s love is more consuming than hers is. But they work well together and care for each other and they don’t seem to care that their relationship is doomed to crash and burn in the future. Make the best of what you have today and don’t worry about tomorrow, you know?”

Washington hummed silently lost in thought and Sheila let him be. No need to hurry this, he was free to ask again when he was ready.

Sheila excused herself, and took of her summer dress and tiptoed over the pebbles to the water to take a quick dip.

“Girlfriend!” Kai exclaimed excited and she laughed at her enthusiasm. Caboose stopped at the sounds and the quick stop made Tucker fall of Caboose’s shoulders into the water with a loud smack.

“Just taking a quick dip.” Sheila told them and crouched in the shallow water to dip her shoulders avoiding wetting her hair. Tucker spat the water out of his lungs as Kai returned to swim with Caboose. Tucker made his way over to her, dipping under with her as they half-floated half-stood in the lake.

“So what’re you talking about with Mr. Handsome Mercenary over there?” Tucker asked with a wink and Sheila just smiled at his fishing attempts.

“Stuff. Mostly about you guys.” Sheila answered shortly and watched Tuckers brain spin into overdrive trying to figure out what she had been telling Washington.

“Well I hope you told him great things about me, like how handsome and wonderful I am?”

“To be honest you haven’t been brought up in the discussion.” Sheila said and watched amused as Tucker got offended. She stood up and left the flabbergasted man crouching in the water by himself.

“What did you tell him to make him look so offended?” Washington laughed as Sheila got up to the blanket and baskets. She cast a glance over her shoulder to see Tucker flipping her off before swimming out to Kai and Caboose.

“I told him that you haven’t asked about him yet.” Sheila told him the truth as she sat down to dry herself. Washington laughed and looked over at the dark-skinned man swimming in the murky waters.

“You hadn’t gotten to him yet in your stories.” Washington said his voice filled with amusement and curiosity. Sheila shook her head amused looking over at Tucker’s poor attempts to hide his staring.

“Wanna hear more about him?” Sheila asked knowing that the man wanted nothing more. As she suspected the blond nodded and looked expectantly at her. “Well Tucker’s a thief. Used to jack cars in the low-income neighborhoods in south Los Santos where he’s from before he moved onto pricier cars in wealthier neighborhoods. He was busted for stealing the mayor’s car. Served with Church and Caboose and settled down here. Don’t know much about his family as he doesn’t like talking about them but I know that he considers both the blues and the reds to be his family now. And he’s the one behind the whole car dealing business we’re running. Smart dude, but doesn’t want you knowing it. Also incredibly self-confident.”

“That I’ve noticed.”

* * *

 

Wash groaned loudly as he rolled his shoulders the skin taut and irritated. He should’ve known the sun here would burn him the moment he poked his head out of the shadows.

Not that he complained about spending the day at the lake with the blues. Well not all of them, Tex was with Church south in Los Santos dealing with preparations for a hit so he was left with the rest of the blues. And he had to admit, even though they might seem incapable to do anything at least they live life to the fullest. Wash hadn’t done that before really, always moving from target to target from order to order not stopping to breathe in between. Well, there had been Connie and Maine but that was something he didn’t want to think about.

All five of them had spent the day lounging in the sun or on the shore. They had laughed, they had sung and danced along to the music playing from Tuckers phone as the sun had begun to set. Wash had gotten to know Sheila pretty well as the rest of them splashed around in the water and she had told him tons of new information about the blues. Sister had lost her top multiple times, Caboose had swallowed probably more than half of the lake by the end of the night and Tucker had laughed almost the whole time. And Wash, he had enjoyed himself immensely.

Tucker’s laugh was really something special. Wash could see why people flocked around the guy; he was handsome and confident and his laugh was incredibly contagious. Wash found himself watching Tucker more than the rest of them, lounging beside Sheila on the shore as he didn’t really care for swimming. He probably should’ve, the angry skin on his shoulders proving that. Sheila had sunscreen with her, but the low levels weren’t nearly enough for his pale skin.

So here he was many hours later packing up the stuff with the guys as the sun had begun to set and the air became chilly. He gave Caboose the trash bag and watched as he started to collect all the bottles splayed on the shore. Tucker walked over ruffling his dreads with the towel Sheila had gotten for him. He smiled crookedly at Wash who was crouching by the baskets, stuffing sunscreen bottles and blankets into it.

“Oh fuck dude, you’re so red!” Tucker exclaimed his smile faltering leaning down to gently touch Wash’s shoulder and Wash couldn’t help but to make a face. Tucker scoffed and put his hand on his hip standing like a pissed of mother. “Didn’t you put sunscreen on?”

“Yes mother. But in case you can’t see that well I’m way too white for Sheila’s one to work.” he replied dryly continuing the packing. Tucker relaxed and laughed at his reply and Wash turned his head away so Tucker wouldn’t see him smile at the sound.

“Well shit. We gotta get you stronger stuff then. But that’s for tomorrow, let’s head back home. I have some after-sun that might work. And I know that Doc has Aloe Vera for sure.”

Wash stood up brushing his clothes and picked up the empty cooler and one of the baskets. Sheila picked up the other one and whistled Caboose over. He bounced over and walked with Sheila in front of Tucker and Wash. Sister sat up from the rock as she was sitting there wrapped in a towel waiting for the rest of them. She had a bloody knee from slipping on the wet rock but that hadn’t stopped her at all.

Tucker took the cooler from Wash’s hand and just smiled as Wash looked over. Tucker’s dreads still dripped water on his shoulders enhancing the colour of his tattoos, the used towel hanging on his shoulder as they walked over to the roads.

“So what do you think?” Tucker asked as they watched Sister hit Caboose on his arm laughing wildly with the guy. Tucker clarified his question after Wash cast a confused look at the shorter man. “About the blues that is. Sheila told me that she told you stories.”

“Oh.” Wash answered looking at the group in front of them. “You’re all crazy. That’s for sure.”

“Old news.” Tucker laughed and shook his head. Wash smiled at the fondness for the group that poured out with his words remembering Sheila’s words about this being Tucker’s family.

“Yeah, I’m sure it is. But I like crazy.” Wash answered the original question and earned a bump from Tucker.

“That’s great. You’d fit right in.” And those little words made Wash’s night even more special. This crazy group of misfits, where else would he fit in as perfectly as he did now. They might never get rid of me, he thought and the thought warmed his insides.

* * *

 

Sarge was cleaning his trusted shot gun as the door to his trailer burst open and Simmons practically flew into the small room. A few seconds later Grif’s head appeared as well, following Simmons around like usually. Simmons’ eyes were wide and he had papers in his hands.

“I’ve got them. I know where the bastards live.” Simmons said his voice breaking from excitement mixed with anger. Sarge dropped the brush and stood up leaning against the table.

“Get the rest. We’re payin’ ‘em a visit.” he growled, starting to reassemble his shotgun with vigor. Grif disappeared from the doorway as Simmons stayed behind selecting a gun for himself from the vast selection Sarge stored in his bedroom. Sarge loaded the assembled shotgun grabbing more ammo in the pockets of his jacket as Simmons emerged from the bedroom with the golden tinted rocket launcher.

“Great seein’ some heavy weaponry.” Sarge complimented but handed over a pistol to Simmons. “But take this in case it gets personal.”

They exited the trailer meeting up with Grif by the large red SUV parked in the parking space. Grif had gotten it from his garage as it was only used when the whole crew drove somewhere together. Sarge gazed at the setting sun and was pleased over that his was going down in darkness.

Donut emerged from his yard dressed in combat boots, jeans and his leather jacket. The bandanna tied on his head was pink. He seemed pissed off and Sarge’s heart was warmed by this. Donut was ready to kill as was apparent by the pink grenade launcher resting in his arms and Sarge knew that the satchel he was wearing was filled with more ammunition.

Grif was wearing his long cargo pants and the orange t-shirt he had earlier today but he had grabbed his black jacket over it as protection from the coldness of the night. He had his machine gun over his shoulder and he smoked a cigarette as he waited for the rest of them. Sarge knew the moment he saw the cigarette that Simmons would be yelling at Grif to stop smoking. Sarge actually didn’t care if he smoked or not. He wanted Grif dead, but he was conflicted about if cancer would be more humane than a shotgun to the face.

“Where’s Lopez?” he grumbled looking around not seeing the Mexican anywhere near the car. He was itching to get started, he had waited the whole day for this.

“ _Here_!” The Spanish answer came from Lopez’ yard as the tall Mexican emerged from behind the fences. Lopez was wearing dark jeans with his brown biker jacket holding his assault rifle steady in his hands as he walked towards the rest of the crew.

“Great! Let’s get goin’ men!” Sarge shouted and they piled into the SUV. Grif would drive with Sarge in the shotgun seat with the rest of them in the backseat. “Donut, you be in the middle.” Simmons said as they tried to figure out who would sit where.

“It'll be a Donut sandwich. Mm-mm.” Donut said and the whole car groaned loudly.

“Dammit Donut, you can ruin anything. Fuck it, I’ll be in the middle so you two can shoot out of the windows if necessary.” Simmons said rubbing his forehead before climbing into the middle of the backseat. Lopez and Donut settled down on either side of Simmons and Grif backed out into the street.

“I’ll make sure your behinds are cov-“

“Brief us Simmons.” Sarge grunted quickly as they slid across the oncoming lane to turn onto Senora highway heading to Los Santos following the route to the address Simmons had told Grif. Simmons pulled the papers from between him and Donut as Grif floored it, speeding between lanes.

“I was able to pull their IP-addresses from the emails and tracked them down to this neighborhood in south LS right by the Maze Bank Arena. The guys we’re looking for are Esteban Jiminez and Ferdinand Kerimov. They run with a minor up and coming gang in South LS, and possess seemingly no noteworthy skills. Taking them out would mean the death of the gang, sir.”

“I don’t give a damn about their gangs. Nobody threatens my family and lives to tell the story.” Sarge grunted and looked over at the driver. “Not even Grif, if somebody gets to kill Grif it should be me.”

“Gee thanks.” Grif commented dryly rolling his eyes swerving across traffic as it was getting heavier as they neared the city.

“Stop cryin’ Simmons.” Sarge said as he saw the tallest of his crew sniffle in the backseat.

“Yes, sir!” Simmons answered his voice thick with emotion that Sarge had no intention of thinking about. He fiddled with the shotgun shells in his pocket as they neared the block where these dirt bags lived at.

“The plan is to identify the targets, and take them out. I don’t care how or who does it but we ain’t leaving until they’re dead.”

“This is gonna be so much fun!” Donut exclaimed from the back and Sarge looked back to see him secure the obnoxiously pink grenade launcher in his arms. Lopez took the safety of his rifle and Simmons loaded up a round in his RPG. Sarge looked over at Grif to see him pick his nose looking beyond bored as he slowed down a block away from the house they were hitting.

“Drive around slowly and we’ll hop out at the right house. Wait for us there, we’ll be in and out.” Sarge commanded and the crew nodded at him, the mood suddenly more serious. Grif sped up and cruised down the cul-de-sac, stopping in front of the light green one story house. Sarge led the others out of the car and into the yard.

The shorter one of the buyers was sitting on the porch steps, looking up at the mismatched crew approaching him. His surprised expression changed into one of amusement as he realized who was leading the group.

“Well if it isn’t the old man. Kinda funny seeing you here. I see you brought the token gay, Hispanic and nerd with you. Where’s the fatso?” he laughed and Sarge could feel his trigger finger tensing up.

“Funny yeah.” He grunted lifting the shotgun and pulling the trigger watching as the man slumped back, his head hitting the edge of the patio. “Spread out men. Simmons take care of the cars.”

A wave of “Yes, Sir!”s accompanied him as he entered the house with Lopez, going room to room killing all the gang members they saw. The house was small though, not many members were present and soon Sarge walked out of the front door just in time to see Simmons blow up the second car parked in the drive way. Donut was standing guard at the fence with his grenade launcher lifted and ready to be fired.

“You got all cars?” Sarge yelled at Simmons trying to cancel out the explosions echoing in the metal garage. They must have stored ammunition and gas there. Simmons nodded a smile on his face but they were interrupted by the sound of screeching tires as a fleet of cars pulled into the dead end.

“Get to cover!” Sarge yelled ducking behind their car hearing Grif throwing himself onto the seats, and Simmons and Lopez run to the neighbouring yards stone fence. He heard Donut plop himself down behind him and saw that the pink clad man held his side with his hand.

“They got ya?” Sarge asked turning around ignoring the sounds of rounds being fired around them and the clanking the rounds made as they hit metal. Donut just nodded his face sweaty as he lifted his hand revealing a lot of blood. Sarge grabbed the bandanna from Donut’s hair not listening to the faint complaining about fashion and pressed the fabric against Donuts wound.

“There’s too many of them!” Simmons yelled over the gunfire. Sarge cursed loudly, lifting his gaze and shotgun to kill the gangbanger that tried to sneak up on them. The body flopped down but Sarge had turned around again to look over at Simmons and Lopez still holding down on Donut’s side.

“Can ya use your RPG?” He shouted over Lopez firing.

“I don’t have any more rounds!” Simmons squeaked back as they ducked behind the wall again. Donut pulled Sarge’s hand away from his side and stood up shakily grabbing his launcher. Sarge yelled at him to get down but they fell to deaf ears as Donut leaned against the back of the car aiming at the cars and pulling the trigger.

The explosion rocked the whole world as the first grenade caught both cars in a fiery ball of death and killed most of the gang members in one swift motion. The rest of them were easy to pick off one by one as Sarge helped Donut into the backseat of the car.

“LET’S GO!” Grif yelled from the car, and Sarge hopped into the shotgun seat as Lopez and Simmons ran over and got in. Grif floored it, speeding out of the dead end that was filled with corpses and wrecked cars. He weaved through multiple neighborhoods avoiding the herds of police cars heading for the explosion. Sarge turned around to watch Simmons taking a look at Donut side.

“It’s a through and through. It should be fine if we stop the bleeding and get him to Doc to patch up.” Simmons answered the unasked question in the car and it felt like everybody breathed for the first time after the fight started. Grif slumped back against the seat as he cut traffic to merge into the highway and accelerated between the lanes determined to get back to Sandy Shores ASAP.

“Don’t worry guys. It’s not that easy to get rid of me.” Donut said from the backseat applying pressure to his side with the help of Simmons.


	9. The Division

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Another Sunday, another chapter! We're nearing the point in the story where I've been stuck for a while now, and with my bachelors thesis work beginning to pile up it might be time for me to take a quick break after a few chapters. I hope you guys will understand that when the time comes, but for now; happy reading!

“Kaikana?” Kai hopped off the couch in her living area as she heard the tentative knocking on her door. The magazine in her hand got lost into the striped blanket on her lap as she patted down to the door opening it to see the new guy standing sheepishly on the front lawn.

“Yeah?” she answered shifting her weight on her left foot, resting her hand on her hip as she blew a large pink bubble-gum bubble.

“Tucker said that I should ask you if you could help me get to Doc’s.” Wash said standing completely still and apprehensive about her posture.

“Why me?” Kai asked the confusion clear in her voice. Why couldn’t she just chill for one night without any interruptions? Fucking Tucker.

“Tucker said something about it being that time when you needed more pills?” the question lingered in the air after the guy spat it out hesitantly obviously not sure what Tucker was talking about. But Kai knew, her face lighting up as she remembered the same thing.

“Oh fuck. I knew I was forgetting something! Sure hang on, I’ll get my shoes.” She turned around and turned off the television that was broadcasting some useless cooking show. Kai grabbed her purse, throwing it over her shoulder and sticking her feet in the flip-flops by the door and skipped down to the yard. “So what brings you to Doc’s at this hour of the night?”

Washington walked beside her as they turned west at the main road that was deserted at this hour. She noticed that he had still the same clothes on that he had at the lake earlier that night but that he had thrown on an ill-fitting hoodie on as the night was colder. The tall palm trees in the middle of the lanes cast long shadows on the pair.

“Tucker’s bottle of after-sun was empty and I can’t sleep without something to help with my skin.”

“So why’s Tucker not here with you instead of me?” Kai asked genuinely curious. She knew that Tucker thought that Washington was hot and she suspected that there might be something he wasn’t telling her. Wash rubbed his neck looking over at the houses instead of her and she was convinced something was fishy going on here.

“He looked tired so I told him that I managed on my own. He didn’t believe me but left it alone just advising me to seek you out.”

“Huh. Okay then. Wait… You’re not here to bust me right?” Kai asked the thought only just crossing her mind. She looked at him suspiciously with narrowed eyes catching the tall blond by surprise. Well-acted surprise, Kai thought.

“What? What on earth are you talking about? I’m just trying to get some Aloe Vera.”

“That’s exactly what a cop would say!” Kai said stopping and pointing her finger at Washington who took a step back with his hands in the air. “'Cause if you are a cop, and I ask you, then you have to tell me. That's totally a law or something.”

“I'm not the police. And that's not a real law.” Washington was beyond confused and slightly irritated at Kai. That wasn’t nearly enough to make her stop and reconsider.

“Well if you're not a cop, then how do you know it's not a real law?” Kai asked triumphantly watching as Washington’s face turned redder.

“I’M NOT A COP!” Washington said throwing his hands in the air frustrated. Kai lowered her hand and looked at the fuming man in front of her. They looked at each other for a while before Kai yielded, turning away from Washington.

“I’m keeping my eyes on you though. Do anything funny and you’ll hear from me. And the pills I’m picking up aren’t drugs. Well they kinda are. I’m picking up my birth control pills. That’s not illegal!”

“I don’t care. And that’s way more information than I want.” Washington replied as they resumed their walking towards Docs.

The house Doc lived in was white, well as white as the houses in Sandy Shores could be and ironically it was in the same block as Ammunation. The irony being Doc’s beliefs in pacifism and non-violence. Kai couldn’t quite figure out why he was hanging around the reds and blues with his beliefs but the time she asked the answer was just so that he could help out. And it wasn’t like Doc went too long between someone needing his assistance. The patio in front of his front door was more well-kept than Church’s, Doc’s wasn’t stained and sticky from spilled beer and liquor as Kai hopped up the few stairs to the door with Washington in her tow.

“Doc you home?” Kai yelled as she pushed the door open and entered the home with Wash in her tow. The blond looked confused and slightly alarmed by the sudden intrusion to the house but Kai just shrugged at the unasked question that formed on his lips.

“In the back!” Came the reply and Kai pushed her past the plush chairs in the living area and walked to the kitchen located in the back of the house. Doc was sitting by the counter reading something on his phone. He looked up and smiled broadly.

“Hey Kai. I see you brought a friend?” He asked standing up and offering a hand to Wash. Wash shook it with a polite smile his eyes glancing over the various equipment that Doc stored in the kitchen for various minor emergencies. Kai huffed as she hopped on the counter swinging her legs as she watched the exchange of pleasantries.

“Sunburn huh?” Doc said without wavering as he swung around to rummage around in his cupboards. Wash looked at Kai who just shrugged and continued swinging her feet. Doc turned around with a few bottles in his hand, a miracle that nothing fell on the floor as he sat them down on the counter beside Kai. She took one in her hands looking at the label, the strange chemical connections making zero sense to her.

“Sit down Washington.” Doc said pointing at the chair he had sat in just moments earlier. Washington did as he was told, sitting on the chair pulling his shirt over his head. Kai looked at the muscles with wide eyes. Sure, Tucker had mentioned how ripped he was but she was still surprised at the mass the tall blond hid behind baggy clothes.

“Wow. You certainly don’t look like the other cops I’ve seen. And trust me I’ve seen many.” Kai said fanning herself with one of the bottles. Washington sighed deeply, his shoulders sinking and he winced as the skin pulled.

“I’m not a cop. Please just get that in your head.” Washington sighed resigned.

“Well this is certainly one heck of a sunburn.” Doc commented his voice remaining cheery throughout the whole exchange and prodded gently at the sore skin that looked painful. “I’ve got a few options here, but as this burn is quite severe I’m thinking the green one.”

Kai looked over the bottles and threw the green bottle at Doc who caught it even though he stumbled a bit. Washington made a face as Doc applied the lotion from the bottle on his skin, Kai wasn’t sure if it was because of the coldness against hot skin or the smell of the thing.

“Dear god what the fuck is that smell?” Kai said disgust on her face as she hopped down to take a closer look. “That smells awful!”

“It’s the price of healing.” Doc said swatting her arm away from Washington’s back as he stepped away from the man. “And I guess you’re here to get your pills?”

Kai nodded and followed Doc to one of the cupboards and watched as he rummaged through it, finally finding what he was looking for.

“Here you go. Same time next month?”

Kai nodded and pocketed the pills wandering back to Washington who sat quietly where he was left. Doc walked over and touched the skin gently.

“Yes this’ll work fine. It’s got an ingredient that numbs the skin slightly so sleeping will be easier. Lather this on twice a day and you should be fine. And for the love of god get yourself some heavy-duty sunscreen.”

“Thanks Doc.” Wash said smiling at Doc pulling on his shirt. Kai took the bottle in her hand as they walked back to the front door.

“See you tomorrow night?” Kai asked looking at Doc who dried his hands in a towel watching them leave.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Is Washington coming too?” He smiled and they both looked at the confused ex-solider standing by the front door.

“I guess.” Kai said after a while shrugging her shoulders. “We hadn’t talked about that yet.”

“Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t know. But I hope to see you tomorrow anyway.” Doc offered a smile at Washington who looked still confused and slightly apprehensive.

Their exchange was interrupted by a car swerving into Doc’s yard and Kai watched as her brother hopped out of the driver’s seat opening the backdoor to let Lopez out of the car. Lopez was helping a very pale Donut out of the car and Doc rushed past Kai and Washington to help them get Donut into the house. Washington and Kai backed away allowing them to hurry through the living room and into the kitchen.

“He was shot!” Simmons all but yelled his voice breaking with fear and anxiety. Grif stayed outside the kitchen not wanting to crowd the already full packed room as Simmons, Lopez and Sarge all watched Doc examine Donut. The door closed on them and the living room was silent.

“Hey bro.” Kai said walking over to hug her brother. He hugged her back resting his head on her shoulder. “What happened?”

“A stray bullet. Shouldn’t be life-threatening.” He released her and looked her over before noticing Washington stand in the corner of the room. “You found another stray?”

“That’s Washington. He’s Tex’s old friend and staying with us for a while.” Kai answered and Washington offered a small wave but Grif just stared at him looking him over.

“Sarge won’t like this. He's gonna see it as you acquiring another solider for your team. If I were you, I’d leave before he comes out here. After Donut who knows what’ll he’ll do.”

Kai understood even though Wash looked totally lost in the corner. She bounced away from Grif and grabbed Washington’s arm dragging him to the door. She cast a last look at her brother from the door smiling broadly at him. He smiled back at her.

“See you tomorrow!” She waved and dragged Washington out of the house just as she heard the kitchen door open. Washington was silent beside her as they walked back to the blue block. She handed the bottle to him and he looked at the label his face filled with disbelief as he read the ingredients before lowering his hand.

“What’s tomorrow?” he asked breaking the silence as they neared their houses.

“The division of the money. From the newest cars. It’s more like a huge party between the reds and the blues. You should come.” Kai answered.

“What about this Sarge-person?” Washington asked hesitantly as they stopped in front of Kai’s trailer. She just laughed, as she had known Sarge for a while and had to get used to his quips.

“He’s fine. Just a bit paranoid and anti-blue.”

“That doesn’t fill me with comfort.” Wash said his voice as dry as the desert they lived in.

“Talk to Tucker about it. But know that Sarge won’t do anything at the party. He might shoot you outside of the party but the party is a no-violence zone.”

“Charming.”

* * *

 

Lopez jolted awake the following afternoon after passing out on the couch for a few hours. The sleep didn’t make him feel any better he felt before the nap, it actually made his headache worse. He stretched his cramping legs out on the couch, stretching the blanket that was thrown over him. He didn’t remember pulling the blanket on him as he rubbed his eyes. Simmons must’ve popped in after he fell asleep as Donut was still resting at Doc’s and Sarge and Grif didn’t care enough to bother with blankets.

His phone vibrated on the coffee table making it shake as one of the legs was slightly shorter than the rest of them. That was courtesy of Sarge once firing a round of indoors and hitting the table. As Lopez had fixed it he had left one leg shorter than the rest by mistake and didn’t bother correcting that error.

Lopez reached out and unlocked his phone blinking slightly as the screen came to life. The single text from Simmons popped up at Lopez’ command.

_“Didn’t want to wake you earlier. Just wanted to make sure you’re still up for tonight.”_

Well that explained the blanket. Lopez sent out a confirmation that he was still going as he stood up and stumbled into the shower. It was already late, as he had lost a few hours of the day and he needed to get ready. Turning on the shower he climbed into the shower cabin and soaked his hair. It was getting long but he hadn’t cut it yet as Sheila had once commented that she liked it longer.

Lopez quickly scrubbed off the dirt and grime of the morning, all the motor oil from that one crew car that needed a new exhaust, the constant sand from the environment, sweat and Donuts blood that he had missed the last night. He followed the mucky water with his eyes as the swirl pool around his feet moved.

Stepping out he wrapped himself in the towel, stopping for a moment to poke at the still healing wound on his ribs from an altercation at a bar a few weeks before. The bruises were yellowing and didn’t hurt so much when he poked them. He moved on and pulled on a pair of dark jeans and a white t-shirt planning on grabbing his brown leather jacket as he left. He ruffled his hair with the towel wandering back onto the couch pushing the blanket aside.

He closed the open files he had on the computer before logging out and storing the laptop somewhere safe in case someone broke in when he was away. Not that there was many thieves here but opportunity makes a thief, Lopez thought as he grabbed a beer on his way back to the living room to close the windows. He swigged it making his way to the door grabbing his assault rifle after he pulled on the leather jacket exiting the house.

He hopped into his brown Bifta speeding off from the lot merging into the light traffic on the road by the shore. He looped around the town heading towards the motel out west where the crew was meeting.

Lopez slowed down as he swerved into the parking lot in front of the motel, driving past the entrance and turning into the inner yard parking into the old swimming pool to hide it from the curious looks from the roads. He parked between the bright red truck and the black Vacca. So, at least Sarge and Tex were here, probably Church as well Lopez thought as he exited the vehicle heading up from the pool and to the second floor of the run down motel that half the town used when they needed someplace secluded. They paid the cops in this town enough to keep them away from this part of town during these nights and Lopez was glad. No need to worry about pigs when the teams met, god knew there were enough assholes in one room without any police intervention.

“Lopez! Late as usual!” Sarge grunted as Lopez emerged on the second floor. The red team leader was leaning on the banister outside the rooms looking over the deserted desert that stretched in front of them with a bottle of beer in his hands. Lopez noticed that Sarge had changed into his finer collar shirt for tonight as he walked past him to get into room 636 where the rest of them were.

“ _You wouldn’t know anything about being late you paranoid old fuck._ ” Lopez muttered as he passed.

“I have to agree with you Lopez, the view is gorgeous!” Sarge said confident in his comprehension. Lopez just shook his head behind Sarge’s back opening the door to the large motel room.

The light coming from the setting sun shone through the windows on both sides and mixed with the warm light from the lights on the wall. Tex sat in Church’s lap as they were seated on the striped couch underneath the lamps and they both greeted him as he walked past them to the window that faced the front side of the motel. On the table in front of the window were six-packs of beer and bottles of liquor with mixers. Lopez grabbed one of the purple mugs at the side of the table pouring himself a margarita.

He looked up as the front door opened and Simmons and Grif walked in in the middle of a heated argument. Lopez didn’t even bother with trying to figure out what the subject was this time and was content with watching the pair walk through the room to the balcony on the other side.

“What’s up with them?” Church asked his voice clear with frustration as Tex just shrugged. Lopez took a sip of his margarita leaning against the table.

“ _They’re fucking so God knows what they’re arguing about. Maybe one of them has a tiny dick_.”

Tex laughed and Lopez remembered that she was bilingual. He shrugged as Tex looked over at him. He moved away from the table as Church demanded Tex to tell him what she was laughing at. Lopez walked over to one of the other couches that had been dragged to the room from the neighboring rooms. As he had thought Sarge burst through the backdoor into the room fuming after having to listen to the bickering of Simmons and Grif. Lopez watched as Sarge walked over to the table to pour himself something stronger than beer.

The front door opened again and Kai, Tucker and the new blue Lopez had heard mentioned walked into the room. Kai snagged a beer from the table and greeted Sarge with a friendly “Old fart.” as Sarge replied with “Skank.” Tucker was talking to the new guy leading him to Church and Tex. Lopez watched as the new guy relaxed when he saw the pair. He seemed nervous.

Kai bounced over from the drink table and her breasts were barely covered by the strapless top she had on. Nothing unusual there Lopez though, he had met Kaikana a long time ago and had become quite accustomed to this kind of clothing.

“Hi Lopez! You seen my brother?” She asked taking a sip of her beer shifting her weight pushing her hip out. Lopez just pointed to the back door with a shrug and she was gone after a quick goodbye.

Lopez watched as the new blue sat down with Tex as Tucker wandered over to the drink table. He glanced at the watch wondering if Sheila was coming or not.

Then the front door opened and the energetic ball of enthusiasm bounced through the room finally settling down on the other couch bothering Church. Lopez saw Churchs jaw tighten as Caboose started to go through his day. Lopez’ attention was diverted though as he saw Sheila walk thought the front door offering her apologies of being late before walking over to Lopez with a wide smile.

“ _Hi_.”

“Hi.”

He leaned up and grabbed her chin in his hand pulling her down to sit on his lap pressing his lips against hers in a feverish kiss. Her hands dropped her purse as she slid them into his hair angling his face to better fit hers. He ignored the whistling he knew to be Tuckers, focusing on the electricity that ran though his body pulling her flush against him their tongues dancing together.

“ _I’ve missed you._ ” He breathed his voice shaky after they broke for air. Sheila’s lips were swollen and her eyes were wide as she laughed breathily against his stubble placing small kisses on his face.

“Me too. Glad the jobs done so I get some free time.” She replied running her fingernails on his scalp making him shudder. He pressed his lips against hers again hungry for the connection that he missed so much. She had used that one perfume he adored, the vanilla mixing with her scent filling his brain with sweet thoughts.

“Alright lovebirds! Let’s get the business done so we can get on with the rest of the night.” Sarge bellowed and slammed his fist against a table to get everybody’s attention. Grif and Simmons appeared from the back door with Kaikana as the rest of the crew settled down on the couches. Church scooped Tex into his lap giving room for Tucker to sit down between himself and the new guy. He saw the brief smile that the new guy flashed before regaining his composure. Grif and Simmons sat down on the third couch with Kai, and Lopez noticed how they sat slightly closer together than the last time.

“The sale went okay, not stellar but we’re not here to talk about that…”

“Yeah because you can’t admit that the reds screwed up with the buyers.” Church chirped in earning a growl from Sarge and a dirty look he usually only reserved for Grif. Church just smiled back at him raising his beer to take a swig.

“As I was saying, here’s your cuts.” He grabbed the black gym bag from underneath the booze table and began throwing neat stacks of cash to the people sitting around him. “Here’s the cut for the repairs.” He threw Sheila a smaller pile of cash wrapped tightly. “There’s the sum you told me. After that the cut for everybody is about 15 grand.”

Church whistled as he reached for the pile of bills wrapped with a rubber band that Sarge was giving him. Lopez pulled Sheila closer to his chest as they watched everybody in the room receive their share except for the new blue guy. Sarge eyed him suspiciously as he had given the blues their shares but kept his mouth shut as Tucker explained that he was to be trusted.

“ _Who is he?_ ” Lopez whispered in Sheila’s ear earning him a shudder as she was startled by the voice near her. She leaned backwards so that her lips were on his neck, pressing a small kiss on his jaw.

“Washington is Tex’s friend who’s staying with Tucker for the moment.”

“Cut the cuddling out.” Sarge said with a grunt as he threw their shares at them. Sheila caught them both easily as Lopez gave Sarge the finger. The room was filled with hushed chatter as the last shares were thrown to Grif and Simmons. “I gave Donut’s share earlier as he couldn’t be here today as he’s resting.”

The silence was short before the group started to disperse. Sarge stood up and threw the bag aside, striding back out to the balcony wanting to keep an eye out for cops. Kai stood up from the couch grabbing Caboose as they rushed out of the room, probably going out to snoop around the motel as both of them were ridiculously curious.

Grif and Simmons talked quietly in their corner of the room as the loud music made eavesdropping impossible. Tucker talked to Washington as Church and Tex started to make out without caring who saw them. Lopez noted that Washington seemed unsure about the abrupt session but that he relaxed as he talked with Tucker. Lopez smiled as Sheila laughed quietly observing the same scene.

“They don’t see it.” She said as she straddled Lopez’ legs wrapping her arms around his neck gazing into his eyes. She had a mischievous smile on her face as she leaned her forehead against his.

“ _Apparently not. Wanna bet how long ‘til they hook up?_ ” Lopez said and tugged on her lower lip with his teeth looking up at her dark eyes shaded by her hair acting like curtains between them and the outer world. Her hands grabbed tightly his hair as she crashed her lips against him hungry for his touch. Lopez forgot all thoughts of the others on the other couch focusing solely on the warmth and the urge to take her home right now.


End file.
